Being Altean
by G.M.Keys
Summary: It's hard enough that her dad and brother are lost out in space. It only seems to get worse as small truths come to light- like the small fact that Pidge might actually not be as human as everyone thinks she is. But the paladins are exactly what they always have been- family. And family sticks together no matter what. Altean!Pidge
1. Chapter 1

Being Altean

"What was Altea like?"

Pidge's cheeks flushed slightly at the way Allura glanced her way. There was no unkindness or even a hint of exasperation in the princess' eyes but Pidge herself couldn't help but be a little bit embarrassed.

She's only asked for like the hundredth time.

Pidge leaned up against the railing on the bridge and looked back at the console board. She could've asked Coran, who was always willing to give a generous amount of information about the planet. But this time, like many times before- she asked Allura.

Not that Pidge would ever say anything to Coran, but she preferred asking Allura. The Altean princess was always busy, as was Coran of course- and sometimes Pidge felt she was overstepping her bounds with the same question over and over, but… There was something about Allura's answer that just felt so much more real.

There was something more personal about the way Allura would talk about Altea. Sometimes when Pidge would listen to her speak, it would be as if they weren't in the console room anymore but far away in forgotten time and a forgotten place.

Every time Pidge asked, she got a different answer in kind. There was always something new to know and something new to learn.

The princess hummed quietly to herself and tilted her head in thought as she almost seemed to look through Pidge. Her eyes were glossed over in almost a daze of thought and a soft smile grazed her lips. Pressing a few buttons, the computer screen glowed a soft blue before Allura turned towards the paladin.

The princess took a small breath, "Have I ever told of the Summer Harvests?" Her voice accented the quiet of the room, bathing it in a rich, soothing tone. Pidge couldn't help but smile before leaning back against the railing, wrapping her arms comfortably against the metal.

Allura always starter with a question.

"Every year, after the rains had finished and each tree had flowered and bore its fruit, the Alteans would come together for a summer harvest." Allura began, taking a deep breath, "The farmlands needed to be picked and replanted for our next growing season- despite what you're thinking, Pidge," The princess' lip curved into a smile, "-the purple juniberry is not the only plant we have on Altea, though that particular flower is very abundant and one of my personal favorites."

Allura flicked a few buttons on the control board, "The harvest date is always different each year. One could only start the harvest when every tree had bloomed."

The princess shook her head lightly and her silvery hair spilled over her shoulders, "It was considered very lucky to have the last tree bloom, you could always count on having good fortune for the next growing season if your tree was the starting point for the next season." Allura smiled, "I remember when the royal gardens contained the last blooming Snow Fleur, my father was so proud!"

Pidge couldn't help but smile at Allura's giddiness.

"But once every five cycles, Altea's three moons would align and into a harmonic convergence that always happened on that year's summer harvest." Allura continued, pausing briefly in thought, "When they would align, Altea's shining star would cover everything in its silver light and every tree would glow with brilliant color.

The princess quieted for a moment, "Each flower looked as if it was covered with stardust," The princess hushed, closing her eyes for a brief moment, "On the year of the harmonic convergence, there would be a great cause for festivity and much celebration. Vendors would line up for stretches down the roads as each village set up in preparation. School was canceled by the time the first moon had reached a point of quincunx. Everyone would lend a hand to help the preparations."

"So what did the royal family do for the celebration?" Pidge asked, her brow narrowing in thought.

Allura smiled, "Well, along with the small events and vendors that would sell their wares in each village, the palace held its own events. Young Alteans would come from miles around to compete in the national games for a chance to win a Starfire. We held dozens of preliminary competitions and the only way compete in the final rounds was to place in all of them."

Pidge frowned her her nose wrinkled, "What's a starfire? Is it some kind of trophy?"

"A Starfire is not a goblet but a flower," Allura's hands fell to her lap, "A very rare flower by the full name of ardenti stellarum. It only blooms every five years at the peak of the alignment which we Altean's call the quinquennium."

Pidge murmured the strange word to herself and frowned thoughtfully.

"Each year only one blooms," Allura continued, "The flower used to be abundant but as the years went by, the golden fire lily began to dwindle in numbers until it became nearly extinct." The princess paused in her rambling and gave the green paladin a funny look, as if something had just occurred to her, "Why would anyone give a cup out as a prize to be won.

Pidge frowned and finally just shrugged her shoulders, "Actually, I've never really thought about it like that before. I suppose a golden trophy is just something that Earth associates with winning I suppose."

"Oh!" Allura nodded in understanding, "So gold is a precious metal on your planet, then?"

Pidge blinked and let out a slight laugh, "Oh, no! Well- gold is a precious metal but no one ever uses real gold for a trophy, they only paint it to look yellow. Usually the trophy is made from plastic. The only time they ever use real gold would be for something like the Olympics or something which only happens every two years."

"So you earthlings compete for a painted mold..?" Allura ventured, her voice tinged with confusion. "So when Lance talks about his 'trophies', he really means a collection of melted plastic?"

Pidge snickered slightly at the wording nodded, "I suppose it's more of the principle of the idea of winning than the actual trophy itself, but you should take that up with Lance." Pidge added, internally grinning at the thought. "And it's not like every Altean competition the winner would receive a starfire, right?"

Allura nodded, "You are indeed correct! We could never afford to do such a thing. But I still can't see the merit in receiving twisted building materials as an award of a high degree."

"It's just an Earth thing I guess." Pidge shrugged, it wasn't as if she had received many trophies for much of anything while she was in school besides from the robotic club. But even then, the robotics club didn't give out the golden trophies like most other sports teams. Pidge smiled, remembering a few of the cooler gadgets that she had won when she had been a bit younger. She didn't care what anyone said, the robotics club was much cooler than any old sports team. And if she was being honest with herself, she could've totally won the grand prize in this year's competition too.

"What challenges does an earthling compete in to get these 'trophies'." Allura stumbled slightly over the word and her mouth twisted as if she wasn't sure how it felt on her tongue.

Pidge paused for a moment.

"Soccer." Pidge stated, nodding thoughtfully, "Sports mostly but I think most kids have one of those little soccer trophies that they got when they were kids because their parents signed them up for recreational."

"Sock or?" Allura carefully sounded out the word and repeated it carefully to herself.

"Yep, that's the word. I'm not that great at it but I'm sure Lance and Keith could show you a few moves if you were interested."

The two boys were much better at the sport than Pidge herself could ever dream of being. She could think of a few soccer trophies that were probably dusting up in the Holt family attic in some box. Two years of ducking from a ball was a childhood memory that the green paladin would gladly leave rotting in a cardboard box up in the attic. Her face happened to be a ball magnet and she was just glad that none of the pictures had manages to survive.

"Well, we may not have had 'sock or' but we did have a few other events to compete in." Allura proudly stated, pride clearly coloring every word. "When an Altean would prove themselves in the arena and become a champion of the games, they were brought in as a special guest of the Harvest Ball at the castle. After dinner and a few traditional dances, the Altean would be presented with the blooming flower when the moon's reached their highest point." Allura's voice became excited and Pidge could only wonder what the castle had looked like in its peak.

"So how did you turn this place-" Pidge gestured to the stark room, "-into being fit to hold a royal ball."

"Well~" Allura thrilled, looking around to room, "Because of the many delegation parties that would come during this time- it was very important to be invited to the planet for the event. Altea is- well was, during that time, one of the leading countries in political and diplomatic ties. So everything had to be coordinated as such. It would take almost a third of a cycle to get preparations all set. But most of it was done before the second moon had reached alignment."

Pidge's mind wandered as Allura went in on the details of what went into making the preparation of the ball. It sounded like a wonderful time; with ethnic foods, friends, laughter and a lot of interesting traditions. She could almost see the silver light shining in the sky as each flower bloomed with wonderful scents that filled the castle.

Each description and imaginative picture filled Pidge's thoughts with wonder and she couldn't help but laugh along with Allura as the princess tried to explain, with difficulty, the complications of fitting into Altean formal dress. The princess' talk of balls and knights and handmaids sounded like something out of the fantasy books that Pidge-or really, Katie Holt read when she was a child.

'Pidge' had never read such thing or dreamed of such a life. Pidge was the green paladin, the one who worked the hardest to save her father and her brother. Pidge was the defender of the universe who came from Earth; smart, creative, a little nerdy but also the one that the rest could rely on for anything and everything technological.

Lance always loudly boasted that it was the Altean in her that made her so good with the technology. Pidge always proclaimed that anyone else could be as good as her if they just applied themselves, but she couldn't deny that she didn't mind the connotation that went along with Lance's words.

Altean

That was something Pidge had never expected to be in her life.

She always knew she was a bit different. Adopted was different but it wasn't uncommon on Earth and she fit right into the Holt family. Her mom used to joke that she was Matt's long lost twin. No one really ever suspected that she had been from an orphanage and it was always a shock to everyone on 'share and tell' day when she would mention it. No one ever really seemed to believe her anyways, so Katie dropped it and it was fine.

Katie Holt had also been a bit different developmentally when she was baby. She had sat up, rolled over and began walking before anyone else's kid did.

 _'A little protegé.'_ Her father used to say, with a big smile on his face. _'Matt was the_ _exact same way._ _He barely crawled before he was up, racing around the house!'_

So she was different but that was just a Holt thing, so it was fine.

When Katie turned thirteen, things began to really change. The freckles which had always dusted heavily on her cheeks slowly began to define. She had never really noticed until someone had said something to her at school one day.

 _"Did you always have those?" Her classmate asked, turning around at her desk_.

 _"Have what?" Katie asked, looking up from the top of her book. She had just gotten new glasses and had taken to hiding behind books. It was easier than dealing with the bullies that seemed to plague the middle school hallways._

 _"Your birthmark," She continued, pointing at Katie's face, "I don't ever remember seeing them before."_

 _Katie's nose scrunched and her hand came up to her face, "I don't have a birthmark."_

 _The girl frowned, "Yes you do, right there." Again, she pointed straight at Katie's face and a few of her other classmates began craning their heads to get a look._

 _Her expression sullied, "If there is something on my face, you could've just told me." Katie muttered before getting up out of her seat to go to the bathroom._

Staring in the bathroom mirror, Katie had discovered something much different than the jelly stain she had been expecting from the toast she had eaten that morning.

Sickle like marks slowly appeared on not just one cheekbone but on both. Each day they seemed to become more defined no matter how much she scrubbed at them. Katie had taken to researching but had found nothing about the strange shape.

She had ended up begging her mom that Christmas for makeup. They had argued back and forth on the subject of her being too young but by the time the holidays came around, Katie was more than happy to rip off the wrapping paper when she had gotten what she had wanted. It had been too easy to just use a bit of concealer in the morning to cover up the strange marks and forget about it, so it was fine.

But by the time her fourteenth birthday Katie Holt or now Pidge as she disguised herself as, realized just how different she really was.

By then the girls in the locker room had always complained for the last two years one way or another about cramps, tampons and the never ending cycle of popping zits. Pidge complained about her itching ears.

There were a few times that Pidge had woken in the night with the helix of her outer ear itching and burning with a sensation that she couldn't explain. At first she had thought it was a rash until she woke up one morning only to find the 'rash' on her ear had peeled. A new fresh layer of pinky skin revealed that her ears were growing.

It had then that Pidge had realized that everything wasn't fine.

She had been too scared to ever bring it up with her mom and never once had she mentioned the fact that Pidge had never asked or needed her to buy a new box of tampons or a tube of zit cream.

Pidge had always assumed that she was just a late bloomer, it wasn't uncommon and it actually worked in her favor once she had decided to enroll herself into the academy. She had a lot more on her mind than worry about why she wasn't getting any pimples. But itching ears wasn't the only strange thing that Pidge discovered about herself.

Looking back on it, Pidge couldn't help but wonder if her father had known about her. She was supposedly adopted from an orphanage- but what kind of orphanage carried Altean babies? It was another one of the countless questions that Pidge would ask her father once she found him again.

Surprisingly enough, her ears weren't as hard to hide as she had thought it would've been when she first discovered the horrifying sight in the mirror. She had panicked as her fingers felt along her slowly pointing ears. It was easy to let her long hair fall over the tips of her ears as they hid behind her honey colored locks. People never saw what they didn't expect to see.

When she had finally figured it out, telling the rest of the crew- especially Coran and Allura, had been one of the hardest things Pidge had ever done.

Pidge had been worried that the other paladins would treat her differently because she wasn't really human. But everyone, especially Allura and Coran had been very accepting of her which was a relief.

The princess had gathered her up in hug, her eyes brimmed with unshed tears as she gladly and formally welcomed her back to the Altean family.

The paladins were her family, the crew along with Allura and Coran were her family. But to have the princess speak of her as an Altean citizen- it made her freeze.

Pidge was more scared of admitting it to herself. How was she supposed to be an Altean when she didn't know anything about Altea?

How was she supposed to live up to the expectations of a culture that she didn't even really understand.

So she asked, day after day about Altea. And with each answer, it became more and more apparent that the more Pidge asked, the more she was enlightened of how clueless she really was about Altea.

"-when the convergence finally came upon in the late evening, a silver light would beam down and every Altean's mark would glow in harmony." Allura trailed off and finally seemed to catch Pidge's plummeting mood.

A cool hand against her cheek shocked Pidge from her thoughts and the green paladin allowed her chin to be lifted up by the slim fingers. Pidge couldn't bare to lift her eyes though, she was afraid of what she might see. Or what she might do if she caught eyes with the other Altean.

Neither said anything for a long moment.

"I know it's hard, Pidge." Allura spoke, thumbing a finger along Pidge's cheek. "I can't truly understand what you must be feeling it what it is like for you," She stopped briefly over her Altean mark. "-but for what it's worth, you would make for a wonderful champion, my paladin." Allura's voice was soft, and her tone was kind.

The green paladin took a small breath. The Altean princess had been a big help to her in many ways. Both Coran and Allura were very supportive of her, more so than they would probably ever really realize. It was hard for Pidge to try and understand a culture that already felt overwhelming and impossible to understand. But Coran and Allura tried their hardest to make her feel like she could've belonged.

"Y-You think..?" Pidge murmured, swallowing back the heaviness in her chest before lifting her hooded gaze to meet Allura's.

The princess smiled her and her eyes glittered, "As a defender of the universe; you would have a very good chance in the arena, I'm very sure."

Pidge gave a slight nod and Allura turned back to the screen and computed a few more sequences into control screen.

The green paladin back sat against the rails and looked out the window into space. Pidge couldn't help but move her fingers up against her cheeks where Allura's hand had been and was surprised to feel a dampness.

Wiping any tracks of tears away, Pidge took a small breath to steady her breathing.

"What was Earth like?"

It was Allura who had broken the comfortable silence between them. Pidge looked over in surprise, "You want to know about Earth?" She asked, her brow raised.

"I have five paladins on board who are all steeped with Earth's culture." Allura stated, swiveling around in her chair. "Of course I would like to know." The princess paused for a small moment and Pidge could see her lips curve into a small smile. "That is, of course, if you're willing to share."

Pidge felt something warm bloom in her chest and gears began to turn in her mind. After a pause and then two, she spoke, "Have I ever told you about snow?"

 **Author's Note:** I always have found the idea of Altean!Pidge to be interesting. This could be a oneshot or it could not- I haven't decided yet. If anyone has any ideas or requests they'd like to see portrayed in an Altean!Pidge AU, comment them or PM me! I'd love to see what ideas people have.


	2. Misplaced

_Wildatheart843 requested Pidge feeling at odds with being both human and Altean_

Mis·placed

/misˈplāst/

adjective

adjective: misplaced

positioned.

not appropriate or correct in the circumstances

2\. temporarily lost.

synonyms: lost, mislaid, missing

It was normal for people to have different tastes and interests. Some people were dog people and some people were cat people. Some people listened to heavy music and others listened to the soft twang of country.

There were tall people, short people, pale people and freckled people, everyone was unique in their own special way. Because in the end, no matter what you looked like or what your tastes were- people had one thing in common, they were all human

But not Pidge.

Looking in the mirror, carefully examining the marks that she was so unused to displaying in public, Pidge could only really have one thought.

What was she?

Was she a human in an Altean body or an Altean with a human mind?

Because when it came to things like whether or not she was human- there was no in the middle.

And as much as Coran or Shiro told her that she was, _"The bridge between Alteans_ _and humanity."_ She wasn't.

Bridges connected things, bridges brought people together and yet here she was; stuck in the middle, out of place as she couldn't seem to find a place to call home.

On Earth she had been slightly out of place, a bit of a nerd as many of her classmates called her. It was true in a way. Pidge was too focused, too serious on finding her brother and her father to do the things that everyone else her age wanted to do. The only makeup Pidge had ever used was concealer and even then, it didn't do much to help her plain face- not that she really tried all that much or felt the need to. Pidge never understood how these girls found the need to plaster cosmetics all over their skin. To her it was a waste of time, but when society accepted doe eyed, over compensating females as the norm- that made her a bit misplaced.

One would think that being an alien, being part of an entire other culture would give her a second chance at fitting in somewhere- not Pidge.

Pidge was stuck in the middle. In the middle where she didn't belong anywhere. She was once again misplaced.

It was hard. When Pidge looked at each of the other paladins, she just wasn't sure if she belonged anymore. And how could she?

Pidge had always assumed she was just a little more unique than everyone else. Her ears were a little more pointed, her freckles may have been just a little more dense. But she had been human, banded together with Hunk and Lance of the common uniqueness of being the best and the brightest the academy had to offer.

And it wasn't really the fact that she wasn't human, it more had to do with that she wasn't really Altean either. If she could barely accept and understand her own body and mind then how could anyone else?

Keith was different. He may have been part Galra but it wasn't as if he had the purple skin and dark eyes to match. His humanity engulfed that side of him and blended it perfectly into who he was. Shiro was the same way, his entire arm was clearly Galra and yet it was such a defining feature of his. He wouldn't be Shiro without it. Anyone else might consider having an alien appendage a shame or at least an eyesore and yet Shiro held his head up with pride.

But Pidge wasn't like them. Pidge wasn't a leader, not like they were. She knew in her head that it was on the inside that counted. She could repeat the same heartfelt phrases that every grade school teacher pounded into their second graders on naming friends but when you could see and feel your body changing right out from under you- it was scary. And it made Pidge doubt everything she ever thought she knew about herself.

Pidge at any moment didn't know what could happen to her next. What it her hair started growing? What if her eyes started to glow or her density changed and she began to float?

Shiro and Keith had gone through experiences that made them even more human despite the alien DNA. Pidge's experiences only seemed to make her feel more and more like an alien looking in.

It had been a whirl of events and emotions when Pidge had found herself suddenly staring at a species that looked more like her than the other paladins did.

When she had first seen Allura and Coran in the crypto chambers she hadn't even noticed the similarities. It hadn't been until a week later when they were sitting in the dining hall that Pidge had really realized just how similar.

On the surface level they looked completely different. Silver hair, fancy clothing, strange mannerisms and accents. Nothing like Pidge at all. That was until she had taken a keen notice to Allura's face.

The princess had been staring over a grouping of atlas'. Her and Shiro had been mapping out the best route to take to the next planet when Pidge had really taken a notice to of Allura's ears. It wasn't the pointiness that had caught Pidge's attention- the princess' ears were a lot more sharp than hers, but it had been the curve of the helix that had really startled her.

Pidge was a scientist at heart so of course any and all experiments she ran on her own DNA and biology were thoroughly mapped out and kept track of. She had been carefully keeping notes of the steady change in the curvage of her ears and had projected a conclusion of how the curvage of her ear would finally finish growing. It hadn't been that hard to map out the general curvage she gained per year ever since puberty had hit. Looking at where she was and the final result of how pointed her ears would be by the time she was fully developed… The math all added up until Pidge finally couldn't deny the Altean in her DNA anymore.

Altean wasn't a change for her. Biological she had always been Altean. It was an acknowledgment that she was alien that made it real. It was having to not only admit it out loud but admit it to herself and accept that everything she had been denying and hiding away from others was real.

Suddenly she wasn't sure what applied to her anymore. Surely she could understand Earth references, but did they really represent who she was anymore?

Each joke and jab Hunk and Lance laughed between the group of paladins over the strangeness of the alien cultures suddenly felt strained and not funny to Pidge.

Her genius and accomplishment in her own advancements in technology suddenly wasn't her own skill but the Altean blood coursing through her veins. Her inquisitive mind for Coran's job and the ship was not an intrigued human but the duty of a lost Altean trying to discover her roots- at least that's how it seemed to everyone else.

All of her accomplishments and blunders seemed to come from whatever Altean genes were running through her. Even her ignorance on a certain subject was blamed for not having been brought up as an Altean.

But that wasn't true. Pidge was the same as she had always been. She'd always been Altean and yet she was just as human in mind and soul as the rest of the crew. She was scared that none of the paladins saw that anymore.

Pidge stared once again into the mirror, looking at the marks that weighed heavily against her cheeks. Running a finger carefully over the top of her left ear, Pidge reached out and pulled a little container out of medicine cabinet and stared at the small bottle of concealer.

So today, like every other day, Pidge had to decide whether or not she wanted to be human or if she wanted to be Altean. To her, there didn't seem to be a middle, just another place to be misplaced.

 **Author's Note:** Another big thank you to not only Wildatheart843 but to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favorited! I very much appreciate it! Don't forget to comment a request if you have an idea!


	3. Freckles

_Hopeismythingwithfeathers wanted to see the beginning when Pidge's freckles just started to change_

Freckles

 _"I don't like'em, momma."_ _Katie asked, scrunching her nose as she went cross eyed to stare at the little brown dots that were swaying in and out of her vision_.

 _"Don't like what, sweetheart?" Mrs. Holt asked, looking over from where she was slathering strawberry jelly on her daughter's soon to be peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch_.

 _"Freckles." Katie distastefully murmured, rubbing her grubby hands over the bridge of her nose and chubby cheeks._

 _"What's wrong with your freckles?" Her mom hummed, setting down the knife after she had carefully cut the crusts off the sandwich. Maneuvering herself, Katie carefully climbed up into the top big chair and leaned up so she could fully reach the table._

 _"Michael Myers says they makes me look splotchy and I don' 'preciate it." Kaite muttered, her cheeks puffing out in a scowl before her chin fell to rest in the palm of her hand._

 _"Well Michael Myers doesn't know what he's talking about. You look beautiful with all of those wonderful little stars splashed across your cheeks." The sandwich was set in front of her and Katie quickly picked up a triangular piece and took a big bite._

 _"Stw-ars?" Katie asked, her voice thick as the rich peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth. She swallowed and reached out to grasp the cup of juice that was accompanied with her sandwich."Is that what freckles are?"_

 _"Why of course!" Mrs. Holt's eyes rose in feigned astonishment and a smile came to her face. "Don't you know where freckles come from?"_

 _"...No?" Katie hesitantly spoke, suspicious as she had never heard of such a thing. But the idea intrigued her. She had always loved stars and space._

 _"Freckles aren't just little dots, Katie." Her mom began, crouching down on the back of her heels so she could be eye level with Katie, "Sometimes, right when we're, the stars look down over and see a little baby so beautiful, so special that they wanna be a part of them. That's why many people have a freckle here-" Mrs Holt poked Katie's arm, "-and a freckle there," Another poke into Katie's side gave way to a burst of giggles before the little girl leaned over to protect herself from anymore tickle attacks._

 _"Each freckle is unique, just like the stars, just like the people who the stars go to." Katie's eyes didn't move from her mom's and she felt a hand reach down to cup her cheek, "But you, you have an entire galaxy wrapped around you. From your beautiful eyes," A pair of eyes met her own and a warm feeling went through Katie , "-to your cute button nose," Katie went cross eyed as a finger tapped on the edge of her nose. "And your beautiful personality. You see, the stars don't just see the outside, they see the inside too. Do you know how many stars are in a galaxy?"_

 _"Matt says there are a trillion, billion, million!" Katie spoke with pride coloring her voice, Matt was in second grade and obviously, he knew everything._

 _"Even more than that Katie, so many that you can't even count them all." Her momma voice's was hushed and Katie's eyes went wide in wonder and awe. "And each one of those stars saw you as special." Her mom wrapped her arms around her and Katie leaned into the touch, "Does Michael Myers have any freckles?"_

 _"No." Katie shook her head and her mom quiet humming filled the kitchen._

 _"So how would he know how special the stars were if he doesn't have any?" A warm pair of lips was pressed against Katie's cheek and she smiled, "You're a little space cadet, just like dad says. You got a whole galaxy inside of you."_

It was ironic that years later she would discover that her mom was more right. Her freckles were from the stars, more so than anyone could've possibly realized. Sometimes, Pidge wondered why she hadn't asked her mom about her freckles again, years later when she had the chance.

"Did you always have that?"

Katie looked up from her book she was reading as she found herself looking eye to eye with Julie Altman. She wasn't the prettiest girl in school but she was kind, fresh faced and had a very outgoing personality that made her very popular with almost everyone at school.

Katie though had always been a little more reserved, she wouldn't say shy but she definitely didn't like a lot of attention to be cast on her. So it was to her dismay that at the beginning of the year, Julie Altman had decided that she was going to take it upon herself to do the public service of somehow "pulling Katie out of herself" or whatever other nonsense she had pulled from the guru self help book that she must've read over the summer before school.

So Katie had been getting a lot of attention on her as of late. She found herself constantly being pulled into Julie's antics and as much as she appreciated the girl's gesture, what that gesture was Katie didn't know, she would've preferred if the girl could just leave her bed.

"Have what?" Katie asked, looking up from the top of her book. She had just new glasses and had taken to hiding behind books. It was easier than dealing with the bullies that seemed to plague the middle school hallways. And the last thing she needed was even more attention on her now that Julie had spotted them.

"Your birthmark," She continued, pointing at Katie's face, "I don't ever remember seeing them before."

Now that was a surprise, she had been expecting Julie to point out her glasses. Katie's nose scrunched and her hand came up to her face, "I don't have a birthmark."

Julian frowned, "Yes you do, right there." Again, she pointed straight at Katie's face and a few of her other classmates began craning their heads to get a look.

 _'It wasn't enough that you have to decide if my clothing is acceptable enough for you but now my own face?'_ Katie grumbled to herself yet nothing she said was audible enough for anyone to catch. She would know if she had a birthmark, it was her face! Katie's expression sullied, "If there is something on my face, you could've just told me." She muttered before getting up out of her seat to go to the bathroom.

Walking quickly down the hallway, she kept her head down so the other students passing couldn't get a look at the condiment that she had managed to smear all over her face. Katie had been in a rush this morning and hadn't really taken much time to glance at herself in the mirror before catching the bus. She wouldn't be surprised if she had managed to get something on her face.

Pushing into the door, Katie walked up to the bathroom mirrors and examined her face. Her brow narrowed when she finally spotted what Julie had been referring to. Katie was wrong in the fact that it wasn't a jelly stain. She could actually see where the other girl might even assume it was a birthmark. Sitting high on her cheek bone was a strange dark mark. It was fixed right under a concentrated area of freckles and honestly wouldn't have been noticeable unless it was looked at in a certain light.

Wetting a paper towel, Katie carefully scrubbed at the dark splotch and to her surprise nothing came off on the paper towel. Squeezing out the excess water, Katie pulled at the skin and scrubbed harder. The only change that came about was the surrounding skin turned pink and angry, making the mark stand out just a little more.

 _'Maybe it's a bruise?'_ Katie wondered, carefully touching the skin again. She would've assumed that if it hadn't been for the slight strangeness in color. The splotchy area didn't look dark like a bruise per say- just different.

The bell rang for class and Katie shrugged her shoulders before throwing away the paper towel. It really wasn't that noticeable and really it could've been from the couple days that she had spent in the sun on the weekend. She usually got more freckles with the good weather so Katie wouldn't be surprised if that in the next couple days she got a few new freckles to match the discolored area. It would go away on its own.

* * *

"Have you always had those marks Katie?"

It had been the third time in the last two weeks that Katie had been asked that question and she was tired of trying to come up with an answer.

After Julie Altman had pointed out the discoloration on her cheeks two months ago, Katie had taken to watching it and was alarmed to realize that it was growing.

Where the freckles had been, it seemed to be that they had clustered together to an even bigger patch. At first she had been terrified of skin cancer but a little bit of research and a couple careful questions to her mom had calmed her worries. Whatever it was, it wasn't skin cancer.

Katie's second, more educated assumption after she had calmed down of course- had been some sort of melanoma disorder that caused the pigment in her skin to change color. But even that was thrown out the window with a bit of extended research. The first contradiction was almost all skin conditions of such a type affected a bunch of different areas of your skin. Most of them were genetic and usually showed up at an early stage in life. The second and complete contradiction of all research she has done was with one simple fact- no one's cheeks turned blue.

Not like her's and not in the place where it was. Her's was such a controlled area that Katie could almost begin to see a where a defined edge could appear on her left cheek. Her right cheek was still coming in, slowly but surely at a slight slower pace than her other cheek. The hue was darker that her left and the area was blotchy and irritated looking, though Katie herself hadn't ever experienced any discomfort.

Throughout the rest of her seventh grade year, Katie had kept a careful eye on the strange markings. After the first day of scrubbing it with almost every single substance known to man, Katie finally concluded it was definitely coming from below the skin and not above it.

Seborrheic Keratosis, vitiligo, acanthosis nigricans, gangrene, bad circulation… The list went on and on and yet each one was crossed out on Katie's long list of medical conditions and disease that she had spent hours holed up in her room researching.

She never did end up telling her mom about it. The subject wasn't something Katie had ever really found the chance to even approach. It was just too hard. By that time, Matt and dad were gone. Smiles were a bit too forced and Katie could never escape from the tiredness that seemed to envelop the house. Katie's mom had really never recovered from that day. The sun just didn't seem as bright and long gone were the days that Katie really felt that she could just allow herself to walk and talk like the life hadn't been sucked out from them. It just didn't feel right to try and even pretend that they could go back to old times. Something had changed in her mom that day and Katie couldn't say that she wasn't the same.

She supposed that was the reason why she really left in the first place. There was something inside her, a fire within that just knew that her brother and her dad were still out there somewhere and she felt that she not only owed it to them, but to her mom and herself to go searching for the truth. So when Katie had packed up and left to go to the prestigious school that "she" got accepted into, there were no real regrets about leaving. Her mission wasn't just for her, it was for her family. Her mom had been decidedly neutral on the subject. Tight lipped and with more gray hairs and wrinkles than she should've had that day, she pulled Katie into a desperate hug before allowing her to walk through that door, neither of them realizing that that would be the last time that they would get to see each other for a very long time…

* * *

 _'Nope, skin hadn't changed texture, no strange bumps, no, no...'_ Pidge balled up the crinkled paper and threw it carelessly towards the trashcan, cheering half heartedly as it somehow managed to hit the wall and roll in.

Lifting her hand up, Pidge's finger's hovered over the carefully concealed mark and she hesitated for a moment before sighing loudly. Closing the screen of her laptop, Pidge set the screen off to the side and fell back against her twin sized cot. Her blankets and pillows enclosed around her bed and Pidge felt the bed springs squeak under her as the bed frame slightly shook from the movement. She's spent a year looking and yet she felt she was another million years away from ever finding an answer.

Looking up at the the ceiling, Pidge's eyes glazed over as her mind followed the star pattern that was etched into the ceiling. Her roommate, Hunk, had put them up in an attempt to make the place seem a bit more homey. Pidge hadn't protested at the gesture and had actually really liked the look of it once they had been put up. Technically, anything like that wasn't allowed at the academy but Hunk had some initiate to make the decor much more subtle than Pidge would've thought possible. Looking straight into the room, no one would ever be able to see it. But laying back, especially with low lighting, you could really see the change it made to the room

As Pidge's mind traced the star lit ceiling and her mind fell back to the impossible mystery that she had been struggling for years to solve, a small thought nudged in the back of her mind.

She remembered a story, a story about freckles, stars and impossibilities. Staring intensely at the ceiling, Pidge looked down at the few freckles on her arms and pondered on it for a long moment.

The two mysteries in her life, the two impossible things in her life had one thing in common and somehow to Pidge, that didn't seem like coincidence.

Opening up her laptop, Pidge's face was bathed in the artificial light. Creating a new file folder, Pidge pulled up her search bar and hesitated for a moment before typing in three works:

 **[** _Mysteries of the stars_ **]**

Scrolling through her search engine, Pidge scrutinized every shred of evidence she could find. If Matt and her dad were among the stars, then maybe all the other answers she needed could be found there as well.

 **Author's Note:** I am just in love with freckles, I think they're the absolute cutest. Special thanks to Hopeismythingwithfeathers once again for the request and to everyone else who had reviewed, favorited and followed


	4. In a Jam

_Raven Marcus and Fluehatraya both requested a oneshot of Pidge telling the others that she is Altean._

In a Jam

"I don't think I can do this, Hunk." Pidge spoke. Her voice shook slightly with her quick breathing and she pressed herself against the wall outside the automatic doors.

Pidge's head bent down against her chest and she could barely stand to look at herself let alone her friend. She just wanted to disappear.

It had been the first time since Pidge remembered that she had walked out of her room without covering her marks.

They were vibrant against her skin and Pidge could swear they were glowing- not that that would surprise her in the slightest. Her cheeks had a luminescent quality that Pidge had never ever figured out.

"Sure you can. All you have to do is be yourself." Hunk spoke, his voice exuding with a kind confidence that Pidge wished she felt at the moment.

With a hand on her shoulder, Pidge could feel his gaze on her but her stiff shoulders just didn't seem to be able to relax.

"You said it yourself, Pidge, you'd better get it over with sooner rather than later."

That was true and Pidge almost wanted to begrudge Hunk for bringing it up dispute the fact that she knew he was right. It had been a few months since she had revealed the small fact that she was female. Just based on their reactions then, Pidge wasn't sure what they would do once they discovered the fact that she wasn't even human. Trying to tell everyone would get harder and harder as time went on. It would be better to just rip it off like a bandaid and get it over with.

It was Hunk who had helped her all this time. He had always known, sometimes before Pidge had known. Hunk was much more observant than anyone really gave him credit for. The green paladin didn't even realize until looking back at a few defining moments in the academy that really made Pidge wonder if she actually fooled Hunk at all.

He had been there for her since the first days of the academy and she wouldn't want to have anyone else to call one of her best friends.

"Hunk, what if they don't accept me?" Pidge asked, her eyes hidden behind the glare of the light on her glasses and the larger boy paused for a moment.

"We already accept you for who you are!" Hunk gave a smile, "I don't think being Altean will change the fact that you are the same person you've always been. All of the paladins-"

"No, I mean Allura and Coran…" Pidge trailed off for a moment and her hands crossed over her chest. "I lied to them, you know. They've been out there searching for other Alteans and I've just been…" She took a sharp breath and stuttered to a stop. Her hand briefly rose up and felt along the edge of her ears, "What will they think of me..?" Her voice was quiet and yet Hunk could hear the panic and the thought racing through her mind at hyper speed.

Hunk opened his mouth to speak but closed it shut after a moment. He had a hundred words of encouragement and promises on his tongue but looking at Pidge, looking at her bare face that was beginning to glow a misty pink- he couldn't bring himself to say any of them.

Pidge had been quietly mentioning a slight change in color though Hunk hadn't actually ever seen her marks fully to actually be able to judge that. He had been on the outside for a long time and he was too good a friend to try and give advice about something he really truly couldn't fully comprehend. This was just a new territory to him as it was her.

It was nice to see Pidge standing there out in the open, Hunk knew how uncomfortable she felt about it but he couldn't help but think that he liked the look of her marks. They were definitely different but Hunk couldn't say that they didn't suit her. Pidge had been struggling with both her ears and her marks since the days at the academy. Hunk wanted to encourage her to share that part of her that would bring her a bit closer to understanding her frustrations, but that didn't mean he would do it by lying to her.

"I don't know what they'll say." Hunk finally spoke. That was absolute truth from him, he really didn't know, "But what I do know is that Allura and Coran are kind, generous and wonderful people." Hunk continued, stopping any thoughts of doubt on Pidge's part, "The princess would never turn you away, not ever." His voice was resolute and he knew it in his heart that he was right. "You want answers to log in that journal, right?" Hunk watched Pidge slightly perked up at his question, "Well you have two Alteans right in front of you who can answer a lot of them."

That was the same argument Hunk had made last week that had gotten Pidge to this moment in the first place. She was a scientist at heart and it would be detrimental to everyone, including herself, if she just kept it a secret.

"I need to get started on breakfast," Hunk spoke, nodding his head towards the kitchen, "But I really don't think you have that much to worry about, Pidge. Altean or not, you're the exact same person you've always been."

Pidge had been his friend for a long time and it was an honor to be chosen by the lions alongside her. He knew for a fact that everyone would be just as accepting and kind as he knew and loved them all to be but it didn't matter what he believed- it mattered what Pidge believed.

He could only help her to the extent that he had, everything else Pidge had to do on her own volition.

Pidge listened quietly as Hunk's footsteps trailed off and disappeared through the doors. She sat in the quiet of the doorway, slowly trying to calm her beating heart as she could hear the laughter of distinct voices in the other room and the clanging of pots and pans that must've been Hunk.

Really, she wouldn't have even been considering this if it hadn't been for him.

It had been Hunk who had actually pieced together the puzzle that Pidge had been trying so hard to figure out. A few short words from him had her spinning with denial until she finally couldn't get the thought from her head as it all pieced together.

Pidge was Altean- simple as that, right?

Wrong.

The only thing that had caused was more questions and more worry. It was almost easier that Pidge hadn't really known what it was. It was easier to just deal with the symptoms and just ignore the real issue. She had always assumed it was some sort of foreign disease, skin condition or something inbetween. But being completely alien, that was something that had been a bit more than just a culture shock.

She was a planner, Pidge had always been that way. She made checklists and charts and did everything she could to predict for the best possible outcome. But the green paladin couldn't predict for this, she couldn't even try to pick apart what Keith and Lance might say, what Shiro or Coran or especially Allura.

In the hangar, taped on the inside of her log book, was list of questions that she had started been writing out when she was eight. It had been a bit of a small exercises that she had first done with her dad when she was little and had continued all the way up through middle school and even to this day.

She had always been curious, even when she was little. She used to constantly asked question after question about anything and everything. In an attempt to curb her rambling, her dad had given her the idea of having a log book. She would write down the questions she had and later cross them out when they were answered. That way, she would remember them and didn't have to have them answered all at once.

Katie was immediately hooked with the idea and she had gone through a number of old log journals throughout the years. After she filled a journal, old questions that had never been answered were transferred over to the new book and she would start again.

Pidge was older now but she still kept a pretty good log of her questions. They weren't like the ones she used to ask, like "what was the biggest known star in the galaxy" or "why the sky was blue"- they were questions that couldn't just be looked up on the computer. They were private questions that were almost seemingly unattainable without trial and error.

Pidge had so many questions she wanted to ask, so many thoughts and wonders that she was just burning to know that it didn't seem possible to write them all down.

The books in the castle library didn't help that much, she couldn't read the language all that well and even with her translator- she really needed the context of the Altean words to really get the concept of what the book was trying to portray. But with a whole new world of questions came a whole new world of fears. Fears that held her back from even asking one question.

But Pidge couldn't lie anymore. The longer she sat with a pile of unanswered questions, the harder it became to look the other two Alteans in the face. She knew that most everyone had expected something by now, especially Shiro. She couldn't predict their reactions, she couldn't plan for what they would say but Pidge could control how she told them. It would be better to tell them on her own voluntarily then in the middle of a mission with life and death on the line.

Conversation from the other room spilled over through the cracks of the doorway and Pidge could begin to smell the delicious, doughy pancakes that Hunk was frying up. Her heart stilled when she caught a snippet of Allura's distinct voice but she steeled her mind and finally stood to her feet.

Closing her eyes for a second, Pidge took a small breath in preparation before striding through the door.

As soon as she stepped into the room, Pidge's ears burned and she immediately wanted to leave. _'Just like a bandaid, Pidge.'_ The green paladin coaxed before walking fully into the main part of the room. Everyone was there but to her surprise, no one was staring at her. No one else even seemed to notice the slight change in her characteristics.

Most everyone was scattered about. Lance was in the kitchen with Hunk and Coran, helping make something Pidge couldn't really identify. Keith was seated across the room, his back was facing her but he seemed to be discussing something with Shiro and Allura at the table.

Everything still seemed normal.

What fears she had of immediate rejection were subdued though she could still feel the slight tremor of trepidation. Her eyes were hooded over under the sheen on her glasses. She stood uncertainty at the edge of the table.

Hunk noticed her first and gave her a big smile and a thumbs up, "Breakfast is served!" He flipped the last of the pancakes into serving dish and set it down on the counter.

"-best to be discussed after breakfast." Akira finished speaking to both Shiro and Keith. The other two paladins nodded and all three stood and made their way over to the kitchen area.

Lance had already filled a plate and was already making his way back to where Pidge was. Her back straightened and Lance walked past her.

"Better late than never, sleepy head." Lance spoke, putting his fork in his mouth to bite off a bit of the breakfast sausage on the end of the fork, "Almost everyone else is up, Pidge. Another late night?"

Pidge couldn't find the words to reply as her mind was frozen to a stop. Could he not see the bright marks on her face and the pointed ears? She opened her mouth to reply but Lance was already gone, seated at the table.

"Morning, Pidge." Keith passed her as well and it seemed that neither of the paladins were going to mention anything about it. Did they both not notice?

Her previous nervousness was overtaken by confusion and Pidge walked further into the main room and followed behind Allura and Shiro to get a plate.

"Pardon my frankness, but if we map out a route around the Galra, it will take too much time! We need to find a way through and that is a fact,"

"I completely agree, Princess, " Shiro paused and grabbed a few pancakes with his fork, "-but we have to way to weigh in the risks. If we go right into heavy fire then it won't do any good for the colonies we're trying to reach."

"Well what about drawing them out?" Coran interjected ahead of the pair, "If the lions cause a diversion and draw them out, we could potentially teleport the castle around the fleet and straight through the gap that was was left by their absence.

The three them were in deep conversation about something that Pidge was sure she would hear about later in a meeting.

Dragging behind them, she waited until they had left to go to the table until she finally grabbed a plate of her own. Putting a few pancakes and some fruit, Pidge grabbed some silverware and followed after them.

The only seat left was across from Akira next to Lance who was very involved in his large stack of pancakes that was currently being drowned in some substance that Pidge assumed was supposed to be some sort of syrup.

Hunk was already seated, next to Shiro who was across the table from her. He was currently the only one who seemed to really notice her. Giving her a look, he not so discreetly gestured for her to say something. Pidge set her plate down and took a small breath.

"Ahem." Clearing her throat, Pidge glanced around at the rest of the table, "Guys, I have uh… an announcement to make."

There was hesitation in her voice and Pidge's words trailed off to barely a whisper as no one seemed to really pay attention to her. She didn't seem to really have the courage to get everyone's attention. However, Hunk seemed to have no problem with that.

"Good morning Pidge!" Hunk abruptly announced, much more loudly and not as casual as he probably wanted to make it sound. "Looks like you have something on your mind. Anything you want to share for the good for the group?" His voice was exuberant and almost uncharacteristic for him, but it did the job and suddenly everyone's attention was turned up at him for a moment.

Looking up, Lance quirked a brow at Hunk, "Maybe a little less syrup this morning, Hunk." He carefully set down the bottle and scraped some of it off of his own pancakes, sweatdropping at Hunk's forced and awkward smile.

Shiro opened his mouth to say something but anything he was going to say died off when he caught a glance at Pidge.

"You got some jelly on your face, Pidge." Keith mentioned between bites, glancing back down at his plate to eat the rest of his sausage

"Wait, we have jelly?!" Lance balked, "We have jelly and no one told me?! Hunk!" Lance looked betrayed as he held a hand to his chest, "How could you give some to Pidge and not me?!"

"Lance, you have jelly on your toast almost every morning" Keith muttered, nodding his head to the plate Lance had that did in fact have a slice of buttered toast on it.

Picking up the slice of bread, Lance scoffed, "Keith, this is jam on my toast, _jam."_

"Like I said." Keith continued, "You have it on your toast every morning."

Lance's expression was horrified, "Are you insinuating that jam and jelly are the same thing?"

Keith stopped chewing at the blue paladin's mock gasp and his brow furrowed, "Well yeah, the only difference is spelling."

"Jam and jelly are two completely separate condiments!" Lance declared, "That's like saying marmalade is the same as jelly!"

"Guys." Hunk held his hands up in a surrender, "That's not really the point of-"

"Well they are the same!" Keith's voice rose slightly, "Jam, jelly and marmalade are the exact same thing."

"Okay that's not true." Hunk couldn't help but cut in, "Jam, jelly, marmalade and preservatives are all separate things. Although, jam and jelly are technically considered subsections of preservatives but preservative isn't considered to be the other two."

By this time, everyone was listening in on this conversation. Lance and Hunk were clearly in agreement while Keith still didn't seem to find the point of it.

"Do you know what marmalade is?" Allura's whispered to Coran, watching the boys bicker back and forth.

"No idea." Coran murmured, leaning towards the princess, "I thought Earth jelly was a type of ailment for human skin."

"You're thinking of petroleum jelly, Coran." Lance spoke, nodding his head. "Technically, that's not really jelly at all. Jelly is a type of fruit preservatives that comes from fruit juice being cooked down and sugared. It's a popular condiment that Earth has."

"Well then why is this petroleum jelly called jelly then? Does it also come from fruit?" Allura asked, frowning thoughtfully to herself.

"What does it matter? They all taste the same." Keith leaned back in his chair and watch as Lance crunched on his toast.

"Don't confuse them!" Lance murmured, "You can't eat petroleum jelly, that doesn't taste anything like normal jelly."

"Here, I'll draw a diagram." Hunk spoke, grabbing his napkin, "Coran, do you have a pencil on you?"

"Well I suppose I might!" Coran felt his pockets and checked behind his ear, but he couldn't seem to find one. "I'm sorry, I don't- Pidge, do you have one?"

"Oh no! Don't get Pidge to take sides!" Lance argued, leaning forward against the table, "She's the one who has been eating all the jelly in the first place!"

"The only reason why you don't want to her take sides is because you know that I'm right." Keith shot back, taking a smug bite of his pancakes.

"No, I'm just pointing out the clear sign of her biasedness. Jelly. On. Her. Face." Lance grounded out, pointing a finger at her, "She just wants the jelly all to herself!"

"Well how do you know it's not jam?!" Keith set his fork down and shot him a look, "They look the same!"

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

Heads turned between Lance and Keith as their argument started to get more and more heated. But what the other's weren't noticing was Pidge.

Her face was starting to get red with the insinuations and the fact that they were talking about her like she wasn't there was making things worse. The tips of her ears started to burn and as the yelling went up, her temper did too.

"Everyone deserves jelly! It's a basic human right!" Lance huffed, leaning right into Keith's face. "Pidge can't eat all the jelly! It ruins the entire idea of a democratic-"

SLAM!

Pidge's hands abruptly slammed down against the table. The noise shook a few of them whilst completely stopping the argument in its track.

"I didn't eat your stupid jelly!" Pidge roared, her voice louder than she intended. Lance and Keith swiveled in their chairs. Their wide eyes were on her as if they had just noticed her standing there. Her face was blazing her and her marks were beginning to glow a brilliant pastel. With the brighter glow, the colors seemed to wash to white. Pidge grit her teeth and she shot both of them glares, "I'm Altean you numbskulls!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the room seemed to freeze. The boys bickering immediately dropped and all oxygen was sucked from the room. Hunk choked on his piece of pancake and fell into a coughing fit.

Her anger immediately evaporated and the room went silent as all eyes were on her. She had practiced the same speech over and over again and yet everything she had planned was gone with a simple burst of anger.

She couldn't stand to look in anyone's direction and the words suddenly started to flow.

"I haven't been being honest with you guys from the start." Pidge began, "I didn't really know about the Altean thing until a few weeks ago but I've had glowing marks, and pointy ears-" Pidge lifted a hand to her hair and carefully pushed away the locks of hair away to show the table her curved ears. "-for… Well, for a long time," A nervous laugh spilled from her mouth and the green paladin fidgeted where she stood, "-and there isn't really a time to announce 'hey! I'm an alien you guys!"

There was a clattering of silverware against the table and Pidge winced up at the noise. Allura's silverware had dropped from her hands not seemingly from her own volition. Everyone looked to be in shock and even Shiro looked surprised though clearly not as blown back as the other three.

"I didn't know. I didn't-" Pidge sucked in a breath in an attempt to calm her beating heart, "I didn't know what to say and I didn't know if it was true... I never meant to lie to you guys." Pidge took a shaking breath and a lump in her throats seemed to block the words.

Pidge could feel the bright glow in her cheeks and she was terrified of to look up at anyone else. "I-I..." The words were stuck in her throat and Pidge tried to swallow back the emotions that were beginning to surface, "I get it-" Her voice cracked and Pidge tried to clear her throat, "I mean, I'd understand if you guys don't trust me anymore or if you don't want to be around me. It's fine-"

A chair scraped against the floor and suddenly Pidge found herself cut off as a pair of arms encircled her. Her body went rigid as she was enveloped by a tight hug.

"You've said quite enough, Pidge."

The voice was kind and the green paladin was shocked when she realized it was Allura. There were no words to be found and Pidge could barely choke back her own emotions as she could feel Allura's body begin to shake under her own.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry sorry- I didn't mean to upset you." Pidge scrambled back away from Allura and brought her hands up over her glowing marks. "I know I should've said something sooner and I should've-"

"Pidge, look at me, please."

Two delicate fingers tipped her chin up and the green paladin found herself looking up.

"I'm not upset," Allura reassured, her eyes brimming with tears, "I'm happy, so happy that there is good news for the Altean people."

Pidge froze.

"The princess is absolutely right," Coran spoke, lifting himself up from the table. "It is a privilege and an honor to finally have hope again- we are not the last."

Coran's words seemed to shake the others out of their respective silence and suddenly the room exploded with noise.

"Wait a second, are you saying that there isn't any jelly?" Lance gave Keith a look, "Keith Does her face even remotely look like there was jelly on it?! Are you blind?!"

Keith sunk a little in his seat but nevertheless held his head high, "Well what's your excuse?!It's not like you knew she was Altean and you roomed with her! You didn't even know Pidge was a girl!"

"Well Hunk didn't know either!"

Hunk looked a little sheepish and scratched the back of his head, "Actually, the thing is-"

Pidge couldn't believe it. No one was upset with her. Not one of them was unkind or unaccepting. All her fears and worries seemed to melt away and her emotions couldn't help but conflict. An overwhelming feeling of relief washed over her and she couldn't help look at the other in slight awe. How did she of all people manage to get such a good group of friends? She'd spent years hiding pieces she of herself away, holding herself back and denying any sort of close friendship so she could protect herself.

It was casual, too casual to really comprehend. Lance, Keith, Shiro, Hunk, Coran and Allura... They accepted her without even blinking, they accepted her more than she accepted herself. Happiness surged in her and her heart swelled.

"Woah! Pidge, you're glowing." Lance awed, pointing a finger at her.

Her eyes widened slightly and she couldn't help but reflexively bring her hands up to her face to cover them. "Sorry, sorry! It happens sometimes, I can't really control it-"

"That's so cool!" Lance's eyes were like stars and Pidge couldn't help but notice Hunk giving her a decisively smug look of 'I told you so'.

"How'd you cover it up?" Keith asked, quietly observing her.

"Do you believe in the power of makeup?" Pidge smiled a bit at Keith's flabbergasted expression.

"Pidge, I want to officially welcome you to the Altean people." Allura began as Coran walked up beside her. "Not only as your friend, but as your princess-" Her words seemed to get stuck in her throat and she carefully cleared her throat and took a small breath to steady herself. "It really is wonderful to finally… to finally find another Altean and one who I already consider to be such a dear friend."

"I uh… Well…" Pidge was at a loss for words.

"One of many, perhaps." Coran spoke, pulling carefully on his mustache. His voice was level and yet there was a hope in his voice that made Pidge's heart pang with guilt.

She couldn't help but almost sink under Coran and Allura's meaningful look. What they didn't know is that Pidge herself had no idea if there were anymore Altean's out there. She could see the hunger for knowledge when they looked at her and she didn't know anymore than they did. For all Pidge knew, she was the only Altean who ever made it to Earth. She didn't even know how she got to Earth- there were no memories before the Holt family.

"Pidge," Allura's voice caught her attention, You wouldn't mind if I…" She trailed off and the green paladin could see that the princess was hesitating.

Pidge could see the princess' eyes were trained on her cheeks. She could see Allura's hands slightly outstretched and she was wringing them as if she couldn't help but try and hold herself back.

"May I?" Allura's voice was quiet yet full of such yearning that the green paladin couldn't possibly refuse.

"Umm, sure." Pidge hesitated for a long moment before finally taking her hands away from her face. She was a bit unsure of what the princess actually wanted. Blinking, she allowed the princess to close the distance between them.

Allura's fingers were cool against her flushed cheeks. Pidge let out a sharp breath as she felt a delicate finger slowly edged across her cheekbones before finally settling on the light splash of color on her cheeks. Pidge swallowed and kept her eyes carefully trained ahead of her as Allura's gaze focused carefully on her marks.

Her breath quickened and Pidge's gaze couldn't help but land on the princess' own marks. It was strange, Pidge had never had anyone else ever touch her marks before. It was a strange feeling. Warmth seeped from her marks and they began to glow with each delicate touch.

Slowly but surely, her fingers slowly made their way up and it took everything Pidge had not to shrink away as Allura carefully pushed a strand of her curly hair behind her ear. The tips were fully exposed and Pidge scrunched her nose at the feeling. It was strange to feel them so open against the air.

The green paladin closed her eyes and she swallowed in slight trepidation. She didn't know what Allura was looking for but if it was some sort of test, the princess didn't say anything before pulling away.

"-unfair! How was I supposed to know that Pidge's Vulcan costume had actual ears to go with it!" Lance's voice overrode over everyone else's. Spinning on his heel, he pointed dramatically towards Pidge, "Please tell me you still have that picture!" Lance bemoaned.

"You wore a Vulcan costume, Pidge?" Keith asked, raising a brow.

"...Uh yeah, I did." Pidge held her hands up, in bewilderment of the situation. Her brain wracked to catch up with what had been said.

"But the pictures!" Lance enunciated, scrambling forward, "Pics or it didn't happen!"

"Sorry Lance, I'm not really photogenic so I don't really keep many pictures." Pidge sweatdropped as he hung his head.

"Actually, I think I might." Hunk spoke up, edging back as Lance's eyes went wide. "I have a few photos from when we were at the academy and I think I got the ones from Halloween printed out."

Keith suddenly straightened and his eyes narrowed, "Which Halloween are we talking about?" His tone was odd and the other paladins frowned.

"Keith, you never went to the academy with us so I'm not really sure…" Hunk's eyes brightened in realization and a Cheshire grin split his face, "Oh, you mean that Halloween."

"You sure you wanna bring the Fall Festival up, Hunk?" Shiro asked, siding a glance at a brooding Keith before glancing back at Hunk,

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that." Keith spat, his tone venomous,

"Wait," Lance's hand rose in the air, "-wasn't that the mission you guys went on when-"

"We're not talking about it!" Keith cut, his tone absolute as he sunk down into his chair.

Shiro nodded his head, "Keith is right Hunk, we did both agree to not talk about it."

"-but that doesn't mean we still don't have the pictures." Hunk causally mentioned breaking his cool facade with a snicker. Both Lance and Pidge turned around in shock as Keith's face went bright red.

"Okay, now I have to see these pictures." Lance declared, slinging an arm around Hunk's shoulder. "Oh buddy, oh friend of mine, you wouldn't just hide these picture away! They deserve to be shared~"

Pidge watched the boys bicker between themselves and she felt a presence come up beside her. A hand was set on her shoulder and the green paladin looked up at Shiro.

"I don't care if you're human, Altean or a blue space monster from the far edges of the unknown universe- you're a paladin of voltron no matter what." Shiro stated, "The team stands behind you. You understand?"

Pidge closed her eyes for a moment. It was funny really, why had she been expecting anything else? Why wouldn't they accept her? All her fears seemed so unfounded, so unnecessary when she thought about who her friends were. They were family, and family stuck together no matter what.

"I understand. Thank you, Shiro." Pidge carefully nodded and the black paladin scanned her for a long moment.

"Good," His lips quirked and set a hand against his hip, "Now is that all your secrets or do you have anymore you're willing to share?" Shiro's voice was light and Pidge couldn't help but think for a long moment.

"No." Pidge pursued her lips and her mouth curved into a smile, "Well, not any I'm willing to share…yet."

 **Author's Note:** This one is a bit longer because two people requested it. I think I rewrote this one like three times though I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with it.

Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites! And a special thanks to Raven Marcus and Fluehatraya. Make sure to PM me or put in the comments any suggestions or ideas!


	5. Unbearable Itch Part One

_The lovely Hopeismythingwithfeathers asked for a pointed ears problem._

The Unbearable Itch

Part One

It had only taken a scant few seconds for Pidge to realize exactly what was going on. 2:38 in the morning and Pidge couldn't satisfy the itch from her ears. Sitting in the hanger, her nails dug into her skin but no matter what she did, there was barely a few minutes of relief before it a familiar pain burned her ears and the cycle started all over again.

It had been one of those nights where Pidge really hadn't bothered looking at the time. That happened a lot, especially when she got herself involved in a new project. She had known it was coming, more like a third sense than anything else. It wasn't visible, but it was almost as if she felt uncomfortable in her own skin.

Running a finger along the inside of her ear, she could feel the bumps of where the skin was beginning to bubble and would eventually peel and flake.

Pidge hated it, she hated this more than anything in the world- she would rather bleed a river, deal with whatever human females dealt with than suffer the Unbearable Itch.

It had kept her up all through the night and Pidge hadn't even bothered trying to go back to her room. She already was up late and it would've been impossible. Instead, she worked on a few set up upgrades that she was trying to install in her helmet. There wouldn't be a point of even trying to sleep and Pidge knew that from experience.

Staring at her reflection in the visor, the bags under her eyes were stained black and blue from lack of sleep. Twice Pidge had dealt with this and each time her ears had grown a little under a centimeter in height.

Her ears were angry and red and she couldn't help but cover over them with her hands. Her cheeks were flushed and she hated the way her marks began to throb. It was embarrassing and she wanted it to go away.

"Pidge? Pidge, are you down here?!"

The paladin in question turned at the voice and her eyes went wide as the door to the hangar opened with a quiet hiss. She couldn't let anyone see her like this! There was no way in the world that she was going to let anyone see her shedding skin like some sort of snake.

Holding her hands over her ears, Pidge dropped to the floor behind the work table and looked desperately around the open hangar for anything that could possibly hide her ears.

The first time this had happened had been the scariest, Pidge had spent the duration of the cycle hiding in her room. It was easy to just lock the door and ignore her mom's hesitant knocks on the door.

The second time Pidge had been in the academy. Her hair was a big more curly and it had been a little easier to hide it- that and she had basically haunted the empty bathroom on the second floor. There had been a few unkind nicknames that had come out of that ordeal but she supposed being referred to as "Pigeon Pooper" was much better than the alternative option of allowing herself to be revealed to her classmates.

But now she didn't even have the chance to hide. There wasn't any place she could really stow away for a few hours at a time to try and deal with it. And this time was different, this time there was something else along with it.

"Pidge! Shiro wants everyone to meet upstairs-" Lance's voice echoed across the room and she could hear his footsteps coming right alongside the table. In her panic, she did the first and only thing that could come to her mind. "...what happened to your helmet?" Lance asked, leaning down to poke Pidge's visor.

"I'm uh... calibrating it? Yeah, calibrating it." She cautiously muttered, swatting Lance's hand away before adjusting it slightly so her ears wouldn't rest so heavily against the side of it. "I'm doing some repair work and I'm trying to test out some new upgrades for it." Everything she was saying was true it just happened to be that they weren't anywhere near the testing stage yet. You couldn't really test it when there were broken wires poking out the top.

"What are you trying to do with it anyways?" He asked, pointing to the bright electronics.

"My helmet? Well uh…" Pidge distractedly stuck a hand up the back of her helmet and tried to alleviate the itch that was beginning to spread down her neck. "I've been itching to no- scratching, no! I mean…" Pidge hissed slightly at the pain on her ears and another hand went up her helmet to get to the left ear. "I've been _wanting_ to mix the headset and maybe some work with some sort of combative automating system."

"Huh. Well I'm sure Shiro wouldn't mind if you wanted to test out your new helmet thing." If Lance noticed anything amiss he didn't show it.

"Test it out?!" She sputtered before carefully putting a lid on her train of thought. She wasn't even close to being able to test it out and already she was beginning to sweat. She was sure her cheeks were flushed red and her ears were beginning to groan with a familiar sting as they chaffed up against the side of the helmet. Just running would chaff her ears, actually doing any sort of training with it would be horrible. Clearing her throat Pidge's lips strained into a semblance of a smile, "You said that Shiro wants us?" She hesitantly asked, moving out of the way from Lance's curious hands. Every time a wire was touched the sound system would crackle loudly in her ear.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah." Lance snapped his fingers, "Shiro said that Allura and Coran got a new set up on the training deck and he wanted everyone there so we could test it out."

"Are we training with our lions or with individual combat?" The green paladin asked, internally groaning at the thought. Of course today of all days had to be the one where Shiro decided on trying it a new training exercise. Her tired body already ached with the thought. Whenever Allura and Shiro got together to plan something… it was brutal.

"I'm not sure." Lance shrugged, turning around as they both walked through the hangar, "But I know is that Allura was pretty excited about it."

* * *

"Okay, this is _way_ less fun than you described, Allura!" Hunk bellowed, blocking a kick from a combatant before jumping back.

"Do they ever stop attacking!" Lance squawked, throwing himself to the side as a pair of automatons went after him, "I think these ones are targeting me!" Lance ducked under a swing and a Pidge found herself back to back with him. "Why won't my vest change color for once when I want it to!"

Pidge sidestepped a blow and dragged Lance to the side. A fist barely grazed past the edge of her vision and the green paladin barely held back a shriek of fright.

It was her luck that not only had it been individual combat but Allura had decided to make it "fun" by turning the training deck into some sort of battle royale style arena.

Each of them were fitted with carefully crafted vests which Coran had cheerfully told them had been part of an Altean training gear set that had been used to for children. No one was sure if it was insulting or not to be fitted with the same stuff that kids used but no one had time to make any comments after Allura had released the combat holograms.

Their vests lit up with a particular color, either red or blue and each "team" would try and knock each other out of the ring that encircled the room. It sounded easy enough until they had discovered that their vests could change color making a previous ally an enemy.

Of course that meant kicks from behind were fairly frequent. Pidge had already taken a few nasty blows and her ears were ringing. She was thankful for the helmet for the fact that it covered most of her face. No one could see how much she was hating this.

She could feel the sweat clinging to her skin and her ears were humming with an angry throb. It felt like little heartbeats were pulsing against the inside of the helmet.

There was so much chaos going on around her, too many combatants to keep track of and Pidge was constantly trying to duck away from them all. The biggest problem was her field of vision. Her helmet partially blocked her view and she could only do so much to stop the inside of the helmet from jarring her sensitive skin. Each small kick of exertive force against only made her ears itch even worse. It was distracting and she was having a hard time keeping up with everyone with else.

The green paladin took a sharp breath in as Shiro jumped in front just in time to block an oncoming assault. His vest was bright red and Pidge realized that her's had changed colors once again.

"Pidge! Get your head in the game!" Shiro barked, moving forward as Hunk bear armed a combatant. Moving back, Pidge grunted as a hologram came up from behind. Blow after blow was rained down against her raised arms and she was forced back a few feet right into an unsuspecting Keith.

"Pidge, watch out!"

Whipping her head around, Pidge instinctively stumbled back away from the blinding kick that was sent her way. The edge of Keith's heel scraped the side of her helmet.

An earsplitting screech if static pierced her ears. Pidge had never felt her skin burn so badly. At first they were like a tingle but with one wrong move or shake of her head the skin felt like it had been razor burned. She stumbled back and her eyes squeezed shut from the sudden overload on her senses.

Letting out a cry, Pidge instinctively clutched the sides of the helmet, entangling her hands in the sharp, exposed wires and she lost her balance. There was a loud crunch of metal and her head bounced sharply off the inside of her helmet as her body slammed into the floor.

Groaning, she laid there for a moment while the white tiled floor woozed in and out of focus. She winced with every move of her hand and she slowly tried to untangle her fingers from the sensitive wires. Each twist crackled and popped. Her eardrums were aching.

Pidge carefully stuck a hand up under her helmet and scratched furiously at her ear. Her stomach dropped when she could feel something warm and wet coating underneath her fingernails.

"Pidge! Pidge are you alright?!"

"Keith! You friggin kicked Pidge in the face!" Lance sputtered, spinning on his heel, "This is a training exercise! You're not supposed to kill her!"

"I didn't mean to!" Keith rushed, his mouth dropping open slightly in horror, "She was just suddenly there!"

"You're lucky she was wearing a helmet!" Lance spat, "What does this look like?! 'Kill your teammate day'?!"

"I said I didn't mean to!"

Wiping the edges of her fingers against her shirt, the green paladin took the offered hand and allowed Hunk to pull her to her feet.

Shiro and Hunk surrounded her and Allura and Coran were both rushing across the room from the observatory deck.

"You don't think she has a concussion do you, Shiro?" Hunk asked, steadying Pidge her feet.

The green paladin closed her eyes. "I'm fine, Hunk." Pidge grounded out, "Just give me a second, I just need the room to stop spinning."

Pidge could feel the blood rushing to her face and her head throbbed with the onsetting headache. Her helmet rattled around her head and she didn't even want to see what the electronics looked like.

"-smart! Kicking a girl in the face-"

"I told you, she just came in my field of vision-"

"You think that makes it okay?!"

"Boys, now is _not_ the time." Shiro warned, sending a pointed look in their direction.

Sticking a hand up her helmet again, Pidge grimaced at the hot stickiness that coated the back of her ears. She was sure a couple of those blisters had popped, she could feel them leaking out.

"My stars! Pidge, are you alright?!"

Two pairs of footsteps echoed across the floor as both Allura and Coran raced across the room. They had come rushing from the observation deck the moment they saw her go down.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Pidge reassured, she was still in a daze and it was hard for her to get her balance. The world woozed in and out of focus and she finally rested on Keith who was still arguing with Lance. "I know you didn't mean to, it's fine- it was a nice kick…"

"Here, let me take a look," Coran spoke, rummaging around in his pockets, "A healing crystal should be able to-"

"I'm fine Coran, I don't need a healing crystal." Pidge muttered, holding her hands over the top of her helmet to reassure that she hadn't in fact taken it off, "It's just a slight bruise. Keith really only just grazed me."

"Are you sure Pidge?" Keith asked, frowning. She could clearly see concern and guilt in his eyes as he stared her down. "I really thought I-"

"Ah! Here it is!" Coran spoke, holding out the purple quartz in his hands. "It'll take only a minute to heat up. Back when I was training for the royal guard, every cadet had an entire stash hidden on them. They're fast, easy to use and-"

Pidge gritted her teeth and looked between everyone's concerned faces. Her ears were burning and the back of her neck was pooling with sweat. Her hands pressed tighter against the top of her helmet and her headache intensified. She was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the people surrounding her.

"I really think she might have a concussion, Shiro." Hunk murmured, "Though I don't really have any clue how that would affect Altean biology."

"Isn't ice a universal help?" Lance suggested, crossing his arms over his chest, "That's what my mom always used whenever we got bumped in the head."

"There is a big difference between falling and getting kicked so hard you're thrown to the floor." Shiro murmured, leaning forward to stare into Pidge's eyes. The green paladin froze under Shiro's sudden intense look, "Princess, are her pupils' dilated? I don't know the correlation in Altean biology but when a human-"

Pidge backed up, "Guys! I'm fine! My head doesn't even hurt." She lied, grimacing slightly at the splitting head ache. "I don't have a concussion! Let's just get back to training." It was clear no one was really taking her words into consideration.

"The best way to tell for any injury-" Allura startled Pidge as she suddenly invaded her personal space. The green paladin's eyes widened as two hands reached out for the edge of her helmet, "-is to actually look at it."

"N-No way!" Pidge yelped, stumbling back away from the crowd that had surrounded her, "The helmet stays on!" The others seemed at a loss for words and she could see varying degrees of surprise and suspicion on everyone's faces. "Thanks for the concern, really." Pidge rushed, pulling down the edges of her helmet, "But I have really _really_ bad helmet hair." She spoke, forcing a disarming smile on her face. It felt stiff, even to her and eyes were beginning to water as her ears burned. "It would ruin my tests to take off the helmet now. All my data would be lost." Her fingers twitched as the itching was beginning to become unbearable, "I think I'm just going to go process all the uh… helpful data. We're done for today, right Shiro?"

"I suppose…" Shiro spoke, though clearly was at a loss for words at her reaction.

"Great!" The word spit from her mouth and she avoided Hunk's worried gaze. Pidge stumbled back towards the door, "Well, I have a lot of data technology stuff to process so I'll be down in the hangar… hard at work- and _super_ busy-" She knew she was rambling at this point. "I'll try and make it to dinner, maybe."

Pidge was gone before anyone else could get a word out.

"What just happened?" Lance asked, staring at the empty doorway.

"Does anyone else need a healing crystal?" Coran asked, holding out a handful of small quartz'. "I've already cracked a few of these, so they should be used now for the best effect."

"I'll take one." Hunk spoke, grabbing one from Coran's open palm, "Lance look at this! They're just like glow sticks!"

Keith grabbed one and cracked his the same as Hunk. Light blossomed from the crystal and his hands were basked with a glow. "Huh. These are pretty cool."

"So are we done training… or?" Lance asked, gesturing to the rest of the training room.

"We're done for today." Shiro finalized, frowning slightly at his own words, "Lance, Keith, Hunk-" The boys' spines straightened at his tone and both Keith and Hunk paused in their examinations of the crystals. "Coran will tell you what to do with your equipment, I expect this room to be put back to how it had been at the beginning of the day." With his last words, Shiro purposefully strided towards the exit. An arm looped around and locked the crook of his elbow into place and Shiro was stopped in his tracks.

"Coran," Allura spoke, her grip was surprisingly strong on Shiro's arm. "Do you mind if I borrow a few of those?"

"Why of course, Princess." Coran held his hand out to her and Allura chose two from his collection. She examined them or a moment, holding them up above her head in the light, before sticking them in the small pockets of her suit.

"Princess," Shiro rose a brow, "I don't understa-"

"Shiro, you and the other paladins wouldn't mind helping Coran with a problem in the engine room would you?" Allies asked, cutting the black paladin off. Her voice was calm and collected despite the ever tightening grip on Shiro's arm. "There are some pipes that could be inspected for some discrepancies that come with age and Coran can't possibly lift them by himself."

"Princess?" Coran asked, "Are you sure that you want that done now? It will take at least two hours to get them down and cleaned let alone -"

"This is of utmost importance, Coran." Allura stressed, her big eyes flashing, "I'm sure the big, strong boys would be happy to help. Her serene expression never changed but there was something about her tone that made the other Altean stop right in his questioning. With a quick nod he turned and faced the other paladins.

"Come along! This won't take long with all of us working at it!" Coran nodded his head and put the remaining crystals in his pocket, "Have any of you worked in the engine room besides Pidge?"

Keith and Lance shook their head while Hunk raised his hand up slightly, "A little… But I don't think I've done anything with the pipes before."

"Excellent!" Coran spun on his heel and went in the the other direction towards the hallways. "It really is good for you all to know at least a little of how the castle works. While we walk to the engine room, I'll give you a little tour of how the castle was originally built by my great, great, great-"

"It would be best if you stayed with the boys," Shiro stilled as Allura's lips were a hairbreadth away from his ear. "Don't worry, I'm going to take care of it." Her words were soft, quick and had his full attention. He opened his mouth to protest but was once again stopped in his tracks, "Please, Shiro…"

"-great, great, great, great-"

Shiro pulled back and looked at Allura for a brief moment before looking back at the boys. He took a small breath and carefully slipped out of the princess's grip.

"-grandfather." Coran finished, proudly standing in front of the boys.

Hunk let out a long whistle, "That's a lot of grandfathers."

"Well if we're going to keep the castle running after that many generations, then I'd say we've got a lot of work to do." Shiro interceded, stepping up to join the other three boys who were standing in front of Coran. He looked back at Allura who carefully nodded to him in silent thanks.

Shiro followed Coran's lead, trailing behind the other three. He turned his head one last time and watched as the princess slipped away through the opposing doors where Pidge had disappeared through.

 **Author's Note:** This is getting to be a little long for a oneshot so I'm splitting it into two sections. Thank you for waiting patiently! I'm having a lot of fun writing these and the reviews are awesome! You guys rock.


	6. Unbearable Itch Part Two

Unbearable Itch

Part Two

The first thing Pidge did when she got to the hangar was throw her helmet off. She didn't care that the electronics bounced off the floor, wrecking the last of any work she had done on the helmet. The helmet skidded across the floor and disappeared behind her work bench. Her ears burned and the skin itched like crazy. The chaffing had made it insufferable. Pidge's hands ran down her face and she could barely stand the thought of her friends.

Training had been a disaster.

Over and over the concerned faces of the other paladins burned in her mind. Pidge's eyes squeezed and she desperately tried to banish the images and the tears away. It had been so embarrassing and humiliating to have everyone treating her like glass.

She hated it. She hated feeling like she was weak and not in control of herself. The worst part was that she wasn't even strong enough to stop crying. Pidge wiped at the tears that were beginning to fall and her it was becoming painful to swallow. _'I can't let anyone see me like this…'_

She was so worked up, so agitated that in that moment, Pidge could only think of one thing to do.

It had been too easy to just let her lion envelop her. Climbing up into the green lion, Pidge found a bit of comfort sitting in the pilot's seat as she couldn't help but cry her eyes out.

Her head ached, her ears burned, itched and all around Pidge felt absolutely miserable. The dark of the cockpit was interrupted by the hot, flashing glow of her marks. Pidge was frustrated and scared and she could barely stand to do anything other then furiously scratch at her already marred skin. Never had it been this bad. She didn't even know what it meant when her marks glowed like this.

 _'Stupid ears, stupid marks…'_ Pidge bitterly thought, wiping her nose against the sleeve of her shirt. Her legs were curled up against her and her head dropping down against her knees. "This blows," Pidge muttered. Her marks throbbed and another lift pink glow flashed out.

"Pidge, dear… Are you down here?"

The pilot's screen came to life and Pidge eyes flickered up and she watched Allura's figure come to life. She scowled and dropped her hands into her lap. Pidge didn't want to see Allura, she didn't want to see anyone.

Sniffing back her running nose, Pidge watched the princess walk around her work table. Her foot kicked into the discarded helmet and Allura paused for a moment before she bent down. Picking up the helmet, a hand carefully inspected the broken wires.

Allura stood there for the longest moment, there was an unreadable expression on her face before she finally set the helmet down. Her fingers ran gently over the edge of the work table before the Altean finally came to rest against it.

"The itch, it's almost unbearable isn't it?" Allura spoke. Her gaze lifted up and Pidge's heart almost seemed to stop as her eyes stared right into hers. She knew Allura couldn't see her and yet somehow she was sure the Altean knew she was there. "The itching, burning and horrible pressure that just builds up under the skin and makes you feel like your head's about to explode."

 _'How'd she know?'_ Pidge's eyes were glued to the screen. She couldn't help but bring her hands up to her marks.

"I understand if you feel that the best thing to do is hide yourself away. I know how painful and scary it can be." Allura continued, her hand reached up and she gently curved a strand of hair behind her ear. Her hair was still gathered in a bun and Pidge's own skin couldn't help but ache as she caught a glance of Allura's ears.

She could feel her lion rumbling beneath her and the green paladin scowled, "No, I'm not going out there." Pidge muttered, dropping her head to rest in her arms. "I don't wanna see anyone…"

"You don't need to hide anymore, you don't need to be scared-"

A part of her felt sick. How could she not be scared?! She didn't even understand who she was, let alone what was going on with her.

Allura pushed off the table and walked up towards the lion. Taking a small breath her eyes seemed to beg into the camera. "Each ache, each bump and red rash is-"

Pidge squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears. She didn't want to hear it, she didn't want to hear how deformed and wrong it was. She didn't want to hear how ugly and mistreated her skin was.

"-completely natural." The princess finished, looking up at the green lion with a knowing smile on her face. Pidge stilled and the oxygen left the cockpit.

Pidge could hardly stand to look at the screen anymore. She didn't want to look at Allura, she didn't want to hear her words. Why was she like this? Why was she so, so-

"Weak." Pidge hissed, her head dropping into her hands. She was a paladin of Voltron and yet she was letting something like this get to her. She didn't want to believe Allura and yet a part of her seemed to relax despite her misgivings. Her ear twitched and Pidge furious scratched at it. "It doesn't feel natural." The green paladin muttered again, wincing as the skin burned under her fingernails.

"Altean females are a special," The princess' voice was soft and it was as if she was having a normal conversation with Pidge right next to her, "Strong, brave and kind hearted-" She paused for a moment, "...There are so many friends I wish you could've met. They would've loved you just as much as I do…" Allura trailed off and her hands clasped in front of her, "But there are a few things that come with the territory of being who you are and that is nothing to be ashamed of. There is no weakness in being exactly who you were made to be."

Taking a small breath, Allura leaned back and allowed herself to slide down against a large leg of the green lion. "Everything is so confusing at your age, I remember the first time my cycle came about…" The princess' laugh was light, like the tinkling of beautiful bells, "By the end of the first day, I'm sure the whole castle had heard about it," Allura's body was positioned so her back was to the camera but Pidge could feel the smile in her tone. "So I'm going to wait here, okay?" Her hands dropped into her lap and her legs curled up under her, "I'm going to wait until you're ready, Pidge." Allura leaned back against the green lion's foot, "You don't have to talk, you don't have to say anything but we're going to go through this together."

Her lion rumbled underneath her and Pidge could feel the green lion pouring the same sentiment into her.

"I don't know how things on Earth were, but here…" Allura paused and her hand reached up to rest against the green lion, "Here you will never be alone. I promise."

Allura's voice echoed through the vacant room. She could almost feel the girl's stares at her back.

It broke her heart, it really broke her heart that Pidge was feeling so upset and scared. Allura knew better than anyone how frightening it could be. In her own childhood and teenage years, she had many wonderful people in the castle who were there to help her and make her feel better.

Going through something like this without anyone to talk to or help talk you through… Allura wouldn't be the person she was today without the guidance and help from the people who had loved and cared for her.

She didn't fancy herself as a mentor or someone with all the answers. Looking around her and at the perils that the universe faced, she had so many doubts and fears and struggles about trying to lead the broken Altean Empire. How was one supposed to lead when her planet was wasted and her people were on the verge of extinction?

Everyday Allura strived to rise above herself and be the person her father had groomed her to be. It was hard for her to look at the castle and see just how dark and long the shadows have become. However, Allura really did believe that the Empire would return, stronger and brighter than ever before. It was the one thing she had to believe, for the sake of her people if not for herself.

Allura had been so scared that there really wasn't going to be anyone else left beside herself and Coran. There was no worse pain, no worse disgrace for a ruler than to be the last and have to watch as the hope of her people died with her.

Pidge had been a bright beacon of hope in the darkness. Allura had been so overcome with emotion that at first she hadn't been sure how to even address the other. It had been an interesting adjustment in the first few weeks of getting to see Pidge as who she really was.

Allura had come to love the green paladin dearly. However, it was still a challenge to adjust to the new struggles that came with having another Altean who knew so little about the culture that she should've been immersed in from such a young age.

Allura had questions, deep burning questions and anger about how an Altean child could've been so carelessly left alone on an uncharted planet with no one to take care of her. The princess thanked the stars everyday that the Holt family had taken Pidge in and given her a home. There were many worse fates that could have come to the young Altean.

When the war began, and the Galra began to slowly take control, it was not just casualties that decimated the Altean people…

Even now, Allura's blood burned with rage as she could remember the first reports that had come in about slavers. A few Altean ships had been taken captive and her people had been brought to the auction block on the far stretches of the galaxy. They had fought heroically against the efforts and their allies had as well but after the major assault against their planet…

It had been almost ten millennia since that day. When she had woken, Allura was devastated to find that her people had seemingly been forgotten. But Pidge, her dear paladin, had shed the faintest of light onto the subject.

Her people were some of the bravest, smartest and adaptable in all the known galaxies. She was sure that they were out there, scattered among the stars and waiting to be called home. The first step would be to create a pact of solidarity and finish the fight against the Galra once and for all.

But sitting there, leaning her head back as she sat in silence- Allura couldn't help but wonder if each discovery was going to be like this. With such an announcement of Voltron being spread across the galaxy, Allura had hoped that maybe with the discovery of Pidge, that more would come out of hiding.

Did the other Alteans even know who they were? That was a question that Allura was beginning to wrap her head around. It had been over ten millennia since the Altean Empire had a royal family member behind it. Where had everyone else gone? What had happened to the remaining citizens?

The first generation after the attack on Altea would be surely gone by now and the second and third would be up in age by now as well. The Alteans of this age would be fourth generation gone by without a planet or a culture to call home. The world had changed around Allura and she was afraid of what she would discover.

Were they all like Pidge? Did the Alteans assimilate into other cultures and become forgotten? Would they even remember who they once were and what a great nation they had been?

Allura smoothed a few loose hairs and sighed quietly to herself. There were challenges in the future and trials she would be sure to face but without fail they would overcome them together.

The princess looked up as a quiet hiss broke her thoughts and the door to the green lion opened. Standing in the hangar doorway was Pidge. Allura stood up and patiently waited as the green paladin slowly dropped out from her lion.

A moment or two passed and Pidge stood uncomfortably in front of Allura. Her hands covered her ears and her eyes were puffy and rimmed red as she stared down at ground.

Pidge couldn't even begin to try to formulate an explanation to Allura. Anything she tried got stuck in her throat. But she didn't have to say anything. A cool hand pressed against her flushed cheeks and the green paladin felt her chin slowly guided up to meet Allura's comforting gaze. Pidge couldn't help but wince slightly as the princess carefully slid her hand up to her left ear.

"It… It hurts Allura." Pidge quietly admitted. Her words could barely be heard, it took a lot more courage than the green paladin would admit to even voice it.

"I bet it does…" Allura spoke, her tone subdued as she took a careful look over the angry red skin. Her lips pursed and herself couldn't help but frown in concern. Pidge's ears weren't in great condition. It should've never had gotten this far. Allura was sure it had been the training this morning that had really set it off.

The ears during a cycle were considered to be in a tender state. The skin was fresh and any harsh rubbing against it would easily chaff and create blisters like the ones Pidge was sporting now. It was a relief that they hadn't broken and begun to ooze. With a bit of time they would go away on their own but that didn't make them any less painful.

Pidge felt vulnerable standing under the scrutiny of the other. She had never asked for help with anything concerning her ears. Her mind was telling her to walk away so she wouldn't bother anyone. But her heart ached enough that Pidge wasn't sure if it was her own self preservation or her pride that was really holding her back. Pidge swallowed heavily and when took a breath, "Do you think… Do you think you can help me?"

Allura's look was reassuring to Pidge, "Of course I can." She soothed, moving a stray hair out of the way before letting her hands fall back down at her sides, "I promise you that everything is going to be all right."

Pidge blinked away from Allura, her eyes were blurry and she couldn't help but painfully swallow back the show of emotions that she was so unused to displaying. Pidge's was increasingly becoming uncomfortable with the lack of distance between them. The green paladin went to pull away but a surprisingly firm hand against her shoulder kept Pidge in place

Allura's examined her red skin and Pidge verbally bit back a yelp of pain. The princess ran a finger over the bumpy skin and hovered over the blisters. Clicking her tongue, Allura pursed her lips. There wasn't really any malice intended behind Allura's pensive displeasure but Pidge flinched regardless.

The green paladin uneasily allowed herself to be led to the work table. Patting the counter, the princess silently gestured for the paladin to take a seat before she began to dig through her pockets. Pidge bit her lip and looked nervously at the princess before finally hopping up onto the table.

Allura's hands were wrapped around something odd that looked as if it was glowing. With a crack, the geocrystal broke and a liquid oozed out onto the handkerchief that the princess was holding in her palm

Pidge's legs swung over the edge of the bench and she stared at Allura. She couldn't help but look curiously over at the liquid. Pidge had never seen anything like it before. "What is that?" She asked, breaking the silence with her ever growing thirst for knowledge. The liquid soaked into the cloth and the dull blue handkerchief illuminated with it.

"This," Allura began, putting the remaining crystals in her pocket, "-is an Aurum Crystal that was once harvested on Altea." Pidge looked over curiously as Allura held out the soaked cloth, "It has healing abilities that, like the cryptopods, have fantastic regenerative abilities, but-" Allura paused for a moment, "There is one distinction between the crystals and the pods."

Pidge uncomfortably scratched at her ear, "And what's that?" She distractedly asked, her nose crinkled as her marks ached once again from the pressure.

Allura closed the distance between them and her hand snapped up to grip Pidge's shoulder much to the green paladin's confusion. The princess' sparkling blue eyes, narrowed in concentration eyes. Pidge didn't even get a chance to protest as the liquid was pressed gently but firmly against the helix of her ear.

At first it felt cool and tingly but immediately after, all Pidge could feel was pain. It blindsided her and she couldn't help but cry or in protest against the touch.

"I know it hurts," She soothed, "The main difference is that the aurum crystals sting quite a bit more than the cryptopods." Allura, frowned slightly and gently dabbed at the open sores.

Pidge was no stranger to antiseptics but in this moment would've preferred an entire bottle of iodine. The burning tripled with each touch of the soaked cloth and at this point the only thing that kept Pidge in place was the tight hold Allura had on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid I must ask you to refrain from moving," The princess hummed, adjusting her grip on Pidge. The end of her fingers pressed against her chin and the green paladin's head was guided to the right so Allura could take a look at the other ear.

Allura cracked a few of the crystals against the table. With dull thud, the edges webbed with small fractures and a shiny liquid oozed out. Catching the few shards in her hand, the princess deposited them on the table before holding out the other side of her handkerchief. The liquid soaked into the cloth and Pidge eyed it warily before taking a sharp breath.

She bit her tongue and her jaw grinded down against the pain. Pidge begrudgingly complied with the previous request and did her best to stop squirming as Allura went after her other ear with similar treatment. Pidge sucked in a breath in an attempt to steady herself and closed her eyes for what seemed like forever.

"There we go," Allura softly spoke, breaking the lapse of silence that had fallen between them. "I think we're done with that for now. The empty hull of the crystal laid against the table and it's previously bright glow had faded to a dull yellow.

By the time Allura had finished, Pidge's ears were raw. Her ears weren't itching but in its place was a very distinct, stinging pain. Between her burning ears and throbbing marks, Pidge was thoroughly miserable.

Pidge sullenly stared down at the bench. Lifting her hand, Pidge irritantly rubbed at the pressure that was mounting under her eyes and the base of her neck. She audibly groaned as her marks sputtered to life once again, pulsing with a bright pink glow.

Allura's brows raised in slight surprise at the bright flash and Pidge's expression soured. Ducking her head, Pidge sulked and immediately brought her hands to her face. "I _hate_ this! I hate it when they do that!" She remarked, "I look like a bright pink traffic light!"

Something nudged against the inside of her hand and Pidge glanced up to see Allura's hands steadily replacing her own against her swelling, flashing marks.

Pidge's face was flushed from the heat radiating off her face and it was almost jolting to feel Allura's cool hands edge across her cheeks. She stayed stock still and closed her eyes as Allura's fingers delicately maneuvered until they were placed directly below each pink mark. Pidge has never had anyone come even close to touching her face in such a way. Pidge had spent so much time hiding them that it was foreign to have anyone come anywhere close to touching them.

Flicking her eyes up, Pidge went slightly cross eyed as she took in Allura's own marks. They were pink as well but they had more more of a delicacy to them. Instead of a blemish, in Pidge's eyes, they were refined and and bold against Allura's dark skin. They made her look regal and strong- like a hero's badge showing everything she had weathered over the years… everything Pidge wasn't.

Pidge was hyper aware of her own marks. She could feel the ache and the dull throbbing coming from those pink monstrosities. They weren't even close to what Allura's looked like. The edges weren't straight and they looked more like a weird cluster of hot pink moles. Each bump and glow coming from her skin felt unnatural and embarrassing.

"I'm not sure what a traffic light is,"

Pidge took a sharp breath as Allura's thumbs carefully maneuvered up until they were pressing against the sides of her throbbing temple.

"-but they are nothing of the sort." Allura's eyes' narrowed in concentration. Her fingers kneaded into her skin and Pidge was star struck.

The green paladin melted under her touch and her body instantly relaxed. Her eyes closed and she couldn't help but just lean forward into Allura's seemingly magical hands. Pressing into her cheekbones and around the base of her neck, the pressure slowly bled out under Allura's fingers. Pidge closed her eyes, a soft sigh escaped her and her chest relaxed. She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Allura softly murmured, moving her fingers up to curl back into the edges of her cheekbones. Pidge raised a brow in surprise. Looking up, she opened her mouth to speak but a well placed hand only had her groaning in contentment. All the pressure built up under her cheeks was pressed out under Allura's expert touch.

"My governess, Nivi, used to do this when I was about your age." Allura's voice was barely above a whisper, her tone silky smooth and comfortingly soft. Pidge's eyes fluttered.

"I remember one particular day I came back from a really bad day of lessons." The princess started, reaching her fingers back to massage into Pidge's curls. "It has been a catastrophic day. I had woken up late, failed my diplomacy test and ruined an expensive set of robes. I had been in such an irritable mood and had gotten quite lively with one of my instructors. He wrote me up and sent me off to the head scholars' office." Pidge's head slipped forward and she found herself leaning heavily against Allura. "I was completely distraught, angry at how my morning had gone and just stormed off from the headscholars' office. I went racing through the castle, completely in tears and determined that I wasn't going to talk to anyone else for the next hundred years. I had been afraid of what my father would say once he had found out what I had done. I was inconsolable, which is how Nivi found me, hiding in the stables." Pidge could hear the smile in Allura's voice. There was a kind fondness as the unfamiliar name rolled off her tongue.

"And then what happened?" Pidge murmured, her voice thick and heavy.

Allura's hands paused for a moment in thought before massaging her fingers against Pidge's shoulders, "Well, a few things happened. For one thing, Nivi had been very cross with me at the time." The princess hummed, "I had skipped the rest of my lessons and had disappeared for hours without telling anyone where I was going." Allura laughed a little to herself and sat down on the counter next to Pidge. "The whole castle had been thrown inside out in search and even a few patrols of guards were sent out. I really had given her quiten a scare." Her grip adjusted and the green paladin could barely even protest as her head fell back against Allura's chest.

"Did you get in trouble?" Pidge blinked blearily and exhaustion slowly seemed to creep in.

"I think trouble is an understatement," The princess let out a light breath in amusement, "I remember being disciplined quite severely," Allura confessed, thinking a bit to herself, "But do you want to know what my governess said?"

Pidge's eyes closed and she sluggishly nodded her head. The glow in her mark was beginning to slowly fade and a smile edged on Allura's lips.

"She had been disappointed in me not because of anything I had done earlier that day but because I had run away from it all." Allura spoke, tracing a finger over Pidge's cheeks.

 _"You are more than the sum of your accomplishments, Allura- and not any less because of your mistakes. Running has never solved a problem and it never will. Even if-"_

"-you fail again and again, your character is defined by the amount of times that you can get up." Allura spoke, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

 _"Choices Allura, never forget that you always have choices. The choice to run away and the choice to take responsibility for what you do. If you run, there is never a chance to move on-"_

"There is no such thing as irredeemable, only those who are unwilling to grow." Allura finished, her voice soft and reminiscent, "Pidge, I understand how hard it is. How scary all this is for you. But Hunk, Keith, Lance, Shiro, Coran and myself- we all care about you and running and hiding yourself away…" Allura's breath hitch for a moment, "Pidge, I'm here to help. _We're_ all here to help. And no matter what happens, no matter how frightening it is. You won't have to go through it alone."

Pidge's weight shifted and Allura blinked down. The green paladin laid heavily against her chest and her breathing evened out to quiet sighs. Pidge was asleep. Not that Allura was surprised. Between the aching ears, mounting physical and mental pressure, Pidge had an emotional day and the toll of it all had clearly exhausted her.

The princess stayed there for a while. She watched Pidge's chest rise and fall with her steady rhythmic breathing. Allura smoothed out the paladin's curls. She couldn't help but take notice of how young Pidge looked with all her features relaxed and put to rest.

Lifting her hand up, Allura gently tucked an arm underneath Pidge's legs and cradled her head in the crook of her arm before lifting. Allura was almost surprised at how light the green paladin was.

The princess ghosted down the halls. She didn't see any of the other passengers of the ship and for once, Allura was grateful that the halls was so quiet. Pidge didn't stir once during the walk. Allura had paused in front of Pidge's door for a brief moment before walking past.

The princess carried Pidge up the slight incline. The doors automatically slid open and Allura walked through the open corridor.

* * *

Leaning over the mainframe, Allura carefully punched in a few coordinates before looking back up at the screen. The map in her hand had updated numbers of where the Galra were and what planets needed to be liberated. Allura knew they couldn't go to each one, there was no time for that. But if they strategically freed a cluster of planets that had political clout and fighting force, they could begin to settle a really beginning of resistance in the galaxy.

"Good evening, Princess."

Allura startled slightly at the voice, she hadn't even heard the doors open. "Coran, you startled me," Allura breathed, letting out a slight sigh as she looked up over the charts. "Is it really already evening?"

"If you've been working long enough to not know the time, then maybe you ought to take a break then?" Coran suggested, peering over her shoulder to look at the coordinate markers. "There will still be Galra ships to mark on that map of yours when you get back and I don't think an hour or two of your time will change that."

The princess smiled and stood up from where she was sitting. She rubbed a hand over the back of her neck, "I suppose a nice cup of tea couldn't hurt."

"Hunk is already steeping a pot as we speak," Coran spoke, carefully gathering up a few of the star charts before setting them aside. "How's Pidge doing?"

"The same, she is still sleeping. I asked the the Space Mice to keep an eye on her. I haven't gotten any reports so I am assuming she's still in bed- which really is for the best. The poor dear was absolutely exhausted." Allura tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Did the boys finish up their "project" you had them help you with."

"Actually we got a lot farther than I expected." Coran nodded his head, "We got four of them done. There are two more pipes to do but I suppose I'll save those to be done at your discretion Princess,"

"Thank you Coran," Allura sincerely spoke, her eyes shining, "I really do appreciate it,"

"You're welcome, Princess. It was really no trouble at all." Coran spoke, "Urgency is a matter of opinion, after all. And I believe Shiro was very happy with today's overall training. I think he viewed each pipe as a team exercise."

Allura fell in step with Coran and they both began to walk towards the door. "Do you want the rest of your crystals back?" She asked, pulling a few of the remaining crystals from her pocket, "I still have a few left that weren't used."

Coran shook his head, "No, I think it's best if you keep them, Allura. If Pidge is anything like you were back in your younger years, I would say she's going to need them more than I ever will. I remember a time when a young Altean princess was more scrapes and bumps than anything else."

Allura flushed slightly, "I was not that bad, Coran." Her eyes rolled slightly and her brow was raised in slight disbelief. "I believe you are remembering wrong."

"If you say so, Princess" Coran cleared his throat, "But I think the 1003rd annual Summer Festival really showed the highlight-"

"And I thought we agreed never to speak of that again," Allura responded, looking over at the older Altean, "It's been how many years since that and you still won't let that go?"

Coran shook his head, "I don't think the entire populace of Altean was going to let that go anytime soon. I'm sure if things had stayed the way they were, it would've ended up in the royal archives."

"I suppose it was rather… rash." Allura conceded, humming to herself, "But the way I see it, you really are being a bit over the top-"

"You know what I think is over the top? When a young princess is so affronted by a group of royal dignitaries that she sends the entire group into the lake."

"In my defense, the bridge was already weak as it was and they were being abhorrently rude," Allura spoke, "Maybe justice just naturally came about. It's not my fault they all decided to do it the treaty over the lake. If their morals weren't on solid group then neither should they be on solid ground."

"Allura," Coran sucked in a breath, " In front of the entire populace of Altea, your father and the entire group was sent catering into the lake after you sabotaged the supports. A royal peace treaty was held off for half a cycle."

"I don't think one swim caused that much of a problem," Allura flushed slightly, "And for the record, this is alleged, no one could really ever prove anything."

"They couldn't swim at all, princess." Coran flatly spoke, "And for the record, it was your father who found the pretty blue bow that had been left as the scene of the crime." The old commander paused for a moment before sighing, "The only problem is that he completely approved."

"Well of course! You can't tell me that they weren't stuffy, old, cahoots didn't get what was coming to them!" Allura's eyes sparkled before she quickly cleared her throat.

Coran couldn't help but laugh and shook his head, "They were particularly full of themselves weren't they? Well, it's probably best if your keep the crystals regardless. And I suppose I'll keep my swim suit handy. There aren't any lakes around here but the stars know that Pidge could build one if she wanted to."

 **Author's Note:** Originally, I was going to have Allura talk about her mother but in all honesty I'm not even sure if she did have a mother who was around at all during her childhood. I traded the name in and put in a governess to be safe. I would love to hear anyone's thought and ideas of Allura's childhood of growing up in the castle.

Thanks for patiently waiting. This ended up being pretty long but I didn't want to break it up again. Winter break is coming up so hopefully after the semester is over, I'll be able to crank out chapters quicker. Thanks so much for the favs, follows and the reviews. If there is anything you want to see done or expanded on, please PM or review! And of course a special thanks to Hopeismythingwithfeathers for the request.


	7. Training Day

_I'm suprised shiro didnt ask if matt was one, does he know? MoonShadowPup_

Training Day

"Again."

Hunk let out a gasp and keeled over, "Shiro-" He gaped for air, holding up one hand as his arms rested against his knees, "-I don't think I can handle another round of that."

"I'm with Hunk on this one," Pidge wheezed, wiping the sweat running down her face, "We've been at it for hours."

Shiro glanced at the other two. Lance and Keith looked a little better though he could even see the clear signs of fatigue on Keith's stoic demeanor.

Shiro wiped the sweat off the back of his own neck. Pidge did make a point. They had been working on a new group exercise for a while.

"All right. We're done-"

"Yes!" Lance revived from his tired state and his eyes sparked, "Are we really done for-"

"-with group exercises." Shiro continued, a chorus of groans following his words, "All right team, listen up." The group as each of them trudged forward to hear what the black paladin had to say next. "We're going to do what we did yesterday but this time I want you to pair off; Lance, Hunk," The two turned as their names were called, "I want the two of you to partner up today and remember what I said-"

"Yeah, yeah I remember," Lance spoke, putting his hands behind his head, "No weapons, no handicaps, no going easy-"

"And no brawling." Shiro finished with a nod, "The purpose is to train, not to rough house. Don't just bear hug Lance into submission, Hunk," The black paladin warned, looking between the pair, "Each move should have a purpose and I can promise you the Galra won't just be wrestling for fun, Lance."

The two of them cheekily grinned and Hunk sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Got it, Shiro."

"Keith," Shiro started, the red paladin looked up as his name was called, "You think you can work to move the gladiator training up another level?"

Keith blinked, "Is that even a question?" Moving forward, Keith gripped his bayard. In a dull flash of red light, the sword materialized and he gave a few practice swings. The sword whistled through the air and Keith's lips pulled back into a slight smirk that oozed with confidence, "I'll move it up two levels."

"Just make sure to rotate weapons, Keith." Shiro advised, nodding to the knife at his belt. "And focus on speed. Strength doesn't necessarily mean who can hit the hardest." The red paladin nodded and he made his was over to the sparring area that was marked by tiles in the floor.

"Training start!" Keith's words echoed and the ceiling dropped. Lights rotated down and a hologram appeared. Flickering, Keith's fingers flashed across the materialized screen as he picked through training options.

"Umm, Shiro?"

The black paladin turned and blinked down at Pidge.

"What am I supposed to be doing?" Pidge asked, frowning slightly as she looked at the other boys, "Who am I supposed to pair with if Keith is using the training bot?"

"Do you wish to engage in combat?"

The automated voice echoed through the room and Keith swung out his blade as the gladiator's eyes blinked a dull red. His helmet was lowered over his eyes and the red paladin faced up the gladiator, "Gladly."

Shiro looked back to Pidge, "Isn't it obvious?" He put a hand on his hip, "You'll be sparring with me of course." Pidge's brow furrowed and she seemed a bit at a loss for words. "You'll be fine, Pidge." Shiro affirmed, walking over to the mats. "I know for a fact you've been working with Allura. She's spoken very highly of your progress."Pidge flushed slightly at the praise and Shiro set his hands on his hips, "Frankly I think everyone on this team needs a reassessment. You've all grown a lot stronger since we first embarked on this ship."

Both of the paladins took their shoes off and stepped up onto the mat. Shiro pulled his weapons out of his holsters and set them aside next to his foot ware. Pidge set her own bayard aside next to Shiro's.

"Now don't hold back Pidge, I want you to give everything you've got." Shiro affirmed, padding across the mat until he was across from her. Pidge gave him a calculating look, her hands fiddled in front of her and she gave a nod. Taking a deep inhale, Pidge lowered her helmet over her face. Shiro steadied himself in a defensive position and lowered his own helmet over his face, "Are you ready Pidge?" He asked, more for formalities sake than anything else. Her eyes were hooded under the shadow of her curls and Shiro was almost surprised and a little pleased to see a shift of seriousness in her demeanor.

"Ready, Shiro."

Shiro didn't wait another moment before going for the first strike. His leg snapped out, quick and decisive. It was a move that his own instructor had used in his younger years. A basic academy kick to test reflexes.

Pidge reacted beautifully. Her body moved in accordance with his and Shiro's foot met air as his opponent took a step back to dodge before rushing forward. Shiro weaved in between the reciprocating strikes. They were quick jabs, not as quick as Shiro would've liked them to be but they had great execution and with time could easily be burned into muscle memory.

"You're open Pidge," Shiro struck forward past Pidge's defenses and struck a few lighter hits. The green paladin stumbled back slightly but kept standing, "Keep your elbows in a little more." The green paladin reacted accordingly and closed in a few of her openings.

Unlike Keith, Pidge didn't have natural athleticism to work with. While she was intellectually, leagues above everyone else, her calculating mind stuttered her naturally impulsive fighting ability. Her smaller size made her generally faster at evading strikes from larger opponents. She could naturally be underestimated and Shiro was sure she could catch the Galra off guard if her potential could be realized.

Shiro didn't give way and continued to press his attack. Again and again Pidge ducked and weaved but Shiro wasn't satisfied. He wanted to see her on the offense, she wanted to see her strike back. She had barely even tried to go on the offensive and anything she did could barely do any harm. Gritting his teeth, Shiro quickened his pace. His kicks became quicker and he began to use his experience and brute strength to slowly take control of the fight. He knew it wasn't fair. Shiro knew that in a one on one match up, he could beat her in every time. He had years of experience and patience where she simply couldn't measure up. But their fight, Voltron's fight, was never going to be fair. Pidge was going to go up against soldiers whose one objective was to kill her and take the green lion.

Sweat rolled down Pidge's forehead and she grunted as her forearms came up just in time to block Shiro's fist. His weight came down and her legs shook with the effort. He needed to see what she was made of. As of now, Shiro was sure he hadn't seen everything that Pidge could do. No, he knew he hadn't see everything she had. Shiro could feel her mettle, feel her potential, her drive to succeed. She really was just like her father.

It was interesting to Shiro, to see so much of him in her eyes. Pidge looked like Matt and if it hadn't been for the conversation he had with Sam, all those years ago- he might've thought they were clones. Shiro had known Sam Holt for a long time. He could remember the birth of the man's first son and the excitement the man has shown. They worked together on a job here and there; different projects over the years had brought them both to a position where Shiro respected and found Sam to be a friend.

He had also been there for Sam when he and his wife found out they would be unable to have anymore kids. Shiro remembered the amount of grief and sadness Sam had displayed. It was so striking and sobering to see a man so full of life as so broken.

It had been a little over a year and a half since Matt had come into the picture. The little boy was growing fast. His eyes were wide with wonder and curiosity and Shiro had spent enough time at their house for dinner to know how exciting and tiring it was for Colleen and Sam to chase around and entertain boy.

It was natural of course for the two for them, to want to give their son a playmate. But…

There had been complications. Too son and too fast. An ovary had erupted in Colleen and along with the miscarriage, her fallopian tube had to be taken out. Doctor after doctor, Colleen and Sam both went but nothing could really be done.

So the Holt family had grieved and accepted that they would cherish the little boy they had. Things seemed to return back to as normal as things could be. Shiro saw a few adoption pamphlets peeking out from under some work documents but nothing seemed to come from it.

It wasn't until the following spring that Shiro began to notice something different. A certain spring in Sam's step, the hurried bustle of papers as Sam left the office every day right on clock out whereas previously, he'd been staying longer hours. It was a subtle change, the good mornings and the fresh gleam in the man's eye while he worked really made Shiro pause.

Shiro had left on assignment shortly after that and hadn't really gotten much of a chance to ask much of anything. Barely a week had passed and Shiro's private line had began to ring.

His private line was something he only gave out to certain people and the only reason why anyone would call would be for a serious emergency or something that the caller didn't want broadcast on public channels.

Shiro hadn't been able to contain his surprise when it had been Sam on the end of it.

 _"Shiro, I need a favor." Sam's tone was deliberate and strangely on the verge of shaking and immediately Shiro knew something was off._

 _"Sam? What's wrong?" Shiro's eyes flashed and he was already grabbing his coat to grab the next flight back home, "Is it Colleen-"_

 _"No, nothing like that- my Colleen and Matt are fine…" Sam paused for a moment, "It's just, I need you to get me a file."_

 _Shiro sunk back into his chair, "A file?" He paused in slight confusion, "Sam, you have more access than I do to the database. What could I possibly-"_

 _"I need it off records." Sam's voice hung in the air and the information sunk in. Every file and information in the databases was tracked. Anyone with clearance could access it but if you did access it, it would log under your records. Every government search was tracked and logged._

 _"Off record?" Shiro asked, his voice dropping slightly before leaning into his phone, "Sam, that's just asking for trouble. It's not possible to do without alerting anyone."_

 _"That's why I'm asking you." Sam spoke, "It's not possible for anyone in my position but you can. I know for a fact because I've seen you do it." Shiro stilled slightly and Sam paused._

 _"I know about the box, Shiro."_

 _It was true. There were a few things Shiro had done off records. The databases were just waiting to be accessed. But the ones Shiro had wanted would immediately raise red flags. It had been almost too easy to get a black box and slip in undetected to rip a few files here and there. Shiro had done the same thing Sam was trying and he knew it was hypocritical of him to try and refuse Sam. Even if Shiro wasn't particularly loyal to the government but he also wasn't one to just let the files run free. The information was dangerous for a reason and the request still made Shiro slightly hesitant._

 _"So are you going to blackmail me?" Shiro asked, his voice serious as it dipped back into a level of professionalism. He knew how this worked, this wasn't his first time in the field._

 _There was a slight pause and Shiro was a bit surprised to hear Sam sputtering on the other side, "No! Of course not!" His voice rung through the phone as he balked at the statement. "I'm just asking, Shiro. As a friend... I really need this favor."_

 _Shiro blinked once and then again before bringing the phone back up to his mouth, "What files do you need?"_

That was when Shiro really realized who Sam considered him to be in his life. Shiro had always respected and admired the man, but it wasn't until then that he realized just how close Sam was. He was a friend, that was something Shiro had few and far inbetween. He had colleagues and bosses, subordinates and even admirers. But had never really had a friend. That changed everything for Shiro.

Over the next few months, Sam had asked for many more files, ranging from general all the up to some of the most classified. Shiro had to restrain himself from immersing himself in the data to find exactly what Sam was researching. It was a strange search, files madly piling up as all Sam seemed to do was skim them and then send another list for Shiro to grab. It was almost as if he was looking for something.

Shiro had slowly been doing his own research. He didn't want to pry but it was still something of a mystery to him. The files seemed to be a batch of random picks. There was something he was missing.

It wasn't until the very last phone call Shiro had received on assignment that he finally connected all of the dots.

 _"-and that's everything?" Shiro asked, scrawling out the last few IBM numbers. "I might get them a few days late, I heard they're doing a systems check."_

 _"Yeah, I heard about that as well. Well, thanks again, Shiro- I really could've gotten the chance to work on this research project without your help." Sam's voice was easy, much more relaxed and friendly than it had been the first night Shiro had received that phone call._

 _"Am I ever going to get an answer?" Shiro asked, looking down at the paper once more, "After all this time and I don't even know what the thesis of your project is."_

 _"I promise I'll tell you, just give me a few more months-"_

 _"-to research and study more, I know. You've told me every time I've asked." There was no real malice to Shiro's tone and he smiled when the man laughed in the other side of the line._

 _"Well it's true every time! It's takes time-"_

 _"Daddy! Daddy!" A voice erupted on the other one. It wouldn't have been out of the ordinary, Matt had interrupted many times, but the fact was that Shiro didn't recognize the voice._

 _The phone crackled and the line began to break._

 _"I'm sorry Sam, she just got away from me, she's really getting the hang of-"_

 _"-busy it's okay but I really can't have-"_

 _There was a large break and Shiro held the phone closer to try and decipher the words._

 _"-in the world hasn't he been told?! She's your-"_

 _"...early, I promise I-"_

 _Shiro tried to listen in but the rest of the conversation was blanking out. Sam gave a hurried goodbye but Shiro didn't even register it before hanging up himself._

After a full rotation, Shiro had finished with assignment and the first thing he did was lay a house visit to a dear old friend. But not before stopping at the closest store first.

 _"Shiro! What a pleasant surprise!" Colleen beamed out a smile at the man. Her blue jeans were covered in dirt and the sun hat still settled down her head made it clear that she had just been out in the garden when he knocked on the door. There were long lines on her face, deep from lack of sleep but the glint in her eyes held nothing but happiness and content. "What brings you by?"_

 _He tucked out the package under his arm and put a hand on his hip in an attempt to hide his uncertainty. Scratching the back of his head, he settled a hand the peeling wood on front porch railing, "Actually, Colleen, I came to meet the rest of the family." He gently waved the package, tearing open the corners slightly to reveal a soft tip of the new teddy's ears. Rummaging his hand through his pocket, he pulled out another small box, "Don't worry, I got one for Matt too."_

 _Colleen assessed the two gifts with a slight flick of her eyes and the corners of her mouth upturned with a clear sign of amusement and a bit of relief. "Well it's about damn time." She muttered under her breath, more to herself than anyone. Jerking her head, she silently gestured for Shiro to follow. "They're just around out back-"_

 _Shiro didn't have to wait another moment before a small figure came skidding around the side of the house. A small grass stained boy came racing towards him._

 _"Shiro! Shiro!" Matt yelled, his voice rose to a scream before beaming his toothy grin. He didn't even try to slow down before throwing himself at the man. Shiro heroically fainted from the blow, allowing Matt to get a grip on his midsection before ultimately taking him down with the muster and brute force that all thirty two pounds of him could manage. The cool grass tickled his neck and the ground felt good against Shiro's back._

 _Colleen watched in fondness and a great deal of amusement as Matt carefully toddled and wedged his way up onto Shiro's midsection. He sat on his chest like a king would his throne. Matt's face shone with delight and he was clearly ecstatic by his accomplishment._

 _With his back on the grass and his attention focused on the four year old, Shiro didn't notice the other child that had been shadowing Matt a few steps behind. Shiro could feel a eyes on his back and he was curious to see the small curious gaze that was peeking out from behind Colleen's leg. Gripping Matt under the arms, Shiro lifted him up with loud swoosh before setting him carefully next to him in the grass. It took just about everything in Shiro to not flippantly scramble to his knees and undoubtedly scare the girl in a rash attempt to get a good look at the adorable little girl with the cute button nose._

 _Shiro continued to lay on his back, keeping eye contact with the girl as Matt began once again to crawl back up his bear like arms and onto his grizzly chest. With a slight wink, he rolled over onto his chest, catching Matt by his midsection, and settled down into a squatting position that put him at eye level._

 _"Don't you want to say hi, Katie?" Colleen cooed, softly rubbing her hand on the girl's back in an attempt to soothe her apprehension. Shiro couldn't help but grin as her nose wrinkled at him. He wasn't sure how she managed it but she looked even cuter with the stink eye she was sporting._

 _His attention didn't leave her his hands quietly fumbled in unwrapping the package he had gotten her. Katie's eyes glistened in curiosity as the crunchy tissue paper was torn away to reveal the stuffed animal that had been hidden inside. Shiro gently squeezed the bear, looking between its brown glazed eyes and the clear want that seemed to be brimming in Katie's whole body._

 _Matt already was tearing into his own gift that he had already snagged out of Shiro's pocket. His eyes lit up and he held up the small toy that Shiro had picked up for him. "Look! Mommy look! It's a spaceman!" Matt jumped up and down and he was already zooming into liftoff with his new spaceman as a companion. Colleen indulged in his enthusiasm, bending down to examine the newly acquired friend with an intense scrutiny that left Katie feeling a bit left out. She silently gripped the edge of her mother's shirt and shyly stuck her thumb in her mouth as she continued to stare at Shiro._

 _"You know, Beary here has been really in need of a friend." Shiro spoke, threading his fingers through the synthetic fibers on the bear's head. "I've been looking all over but I haven't been able to find Beary a friend anywhere. He's been so lonely lately."_

 _Shiro criss-crossed his legs and set the stuffed animal right down in front. The bear sagged against the ground, making it look more abandoned than ever. Already, Katie had taken a few steps out from behind Colleen and was gently scooting her diapered bottom cautiously forward toward Shiro and the stuffed bear. Her gaze flickered nervously between the brown teddy and Shiro but it was clear that she was slowly getting braver with each minute._

 _Moving his hands behind the stuffed animal, Shiro brought Beary to life. ["Do you want to be my friend, Katie?"] Shiro pitched his voice, speaking in a very rare falsetto before waving one of the arms of the bear. It was bit silly, especially for him, but he just couldn't seem to really care about keeping up a front in front of Colleen and her kids._

 _Shiro watched as the toddler walked a few clumsy steps and stumbled forward against the bear. Her hands loosely grasped the soft ears and she gave a shy smile before sticking a thumb into her mouth. Katie carefully got to her feet, using Shiro's leg as a hold before grabbing the bear in a vice grip against her chest. With a cheesing grin she brought the soft plush up and buried her face into the material._

 _Shiro's smile froze on his face. Up close with the new Holt family member, he had the sudden dawning realization that he was staring into a face that was almost identical to Matt's. The eyes, the smile, even the curls were the same. The only difference he could see was the slightly curved tips of the ears that was distinctly and disturbingly not human._

That was the first time Shiro had properly met Katie Holt. It had also been his first time he had properly met an alien on Earth. It hadn't taken much before he had gotten the full story out of Sam and Colleen later that evening after the toddlers had been put to bed. After all, Shiro refused to leave until he found out exactly why Sam Holt was fostering an alien.

On the rainy spring day of April 3rd, a small unidentified object entered the Earth's atmosphere and crashed into a field close to the Holt family home. The pod could've fallen at any time on any day but it was that specific spring day that had made it possible for the Holt Family to find it.

Thunderstorms were a common occurrence in the springtime which is why no one noticed when the pod initially entered the atmosphere. It was hardly big enough to be considered anything more than space debris if you weren't looking for it on the radars. The small flash of light and the accompanied sounds of the pod breaking through the stratosphere was cloaked by the torrential downpour that had blown in for the afternoon.

There had been a few agencies however, that had carefully noted the object and had notified the correct channels to get a team to check it out. Luckily, the word came down and the correct line of communication came through and Sam had been the man for the job.

It had been nothing but a blimp on the scanners and nobody had been expecting anything more than a few groupings of stray meteorites. Barely worth anything more than routine check and maybe a soil sample if the rain hadn't already washed it out. No one wanted to go out in the pouring rain to look for something so unimportant. Sam wouldn't even have gone if it hadn't been for Matt's pleading eyes and the frustrating ineluctable fact that the sight was barely a ten minute drive from the house.

The landing sight wasn't pretty, the Earth was scarred and water had already begun to fill in the small trenches that had been violently carved out in the field. But Sam hadn't noticed his until much later after he had gone back a second time. It was funny what the mind blocked out when you weren't really looking for it.

It had been Matt who had found the pod. It was relatively small in comparison to other spaceships that Sam had seen but for what they were expecting to find, that day it had been huge.

Matt was almost two and a half at the time and was just learning how to really explore the world around him. Sam had barely managed to unbuckle his car seat before he was squirming down and racing through the fields, dragging his miniature umbrella behind him as he looked around for "space stuff".

Sam hadn't initially thought anything of it when Matt had begun to yell about finding a spaceship. At this point it seemed that every other week Matt had been finding spaceships in the garden or under the porch. But it wasn't until Sam had seen the smoke that he went running.

The first thing that Sam had really noticed was the rain, or the lack of rain. Surrounding the pod was a heavy cluster of fog that's density only made the April afternoon look more ominous than it ever should've been. The ground wasn't even wet. In fact, the grass was dry and crunchy as if it had been scorched by the heavens itself.

Standing in the middle of the cloud of peculiarity was his son. Sam didn't waste another moment, he closed the few yards between them as fast has he could. His arms were ready to snatch his son away from the strange, glowing alien tech but by the time he had gotten there- it had been too late. Matt, the ever curious child, had already begun his own examination of the object. The moment he touched the alien tech changed the Holt Family forever.

The pod hissed with steam and the edges of it glowed a bright pink before the mysterious ship opened to reveal its entirety to the world it had landed in. Matt leaned in with the innocent curiosity that all children his age possessed and when Sam finally reached him, he couldn't help but stop and stare at the sight that beheld him.

Inside the pod, staring back at him was a child. Wrapped in a complicated wreath of bright pink blankets, Sam drunk in the sight with dumbfounded astonishment. Matt, much less perturbed than his father, had already wormed his way in close, locking eyes with the small alien as he examined the new sight with wonder. Sam was so shocked that he found himself unable to do anything but stare. The revelation was reeling and yet Sam couldn't process the fact that he had stumbled across the find of a lifetime. It wasn't until after Matt began to poke the child with a few of his grubby fingers that Sam was finally able to come to his senses.

As soon as the cries began to reach his ears, he was already shifted into Dad mode. It was easy, ridiculously easy for him to scoop up both crying children and hustle them back to the car.

Neither Sam nor Colleen had known what to do at first. Sam had been hesitant to report the pod because he frankly was scared what was going to happen to the child- and after a few months there were no doubts that the alien they had initially discovered in the pod was anything but a helpless refugee that had been sent to from some far off place and crashed on the planet.

The first month had been the most terrifying month of their marriage that they had ever gone through. Sam had spent hours up at the field, getting tests and readings on anything and everything that had happened. He had no origin, no tracking signals and nothing signifying where the alien had come from. He had come back for the pod later, taking bits and pieces it apart and tinkering with the mechanisms within his workshop. The tech was a mystery. He concluded that the pod had burnt out only an hour or so after Sam had emptied it. He couldn't make out any of the readings but from what he could gather, the pod had barely been able to sustain itself through the atmosphere, diverting all power back to keeping the incubation levels stable. The lifeboat, as he had begun to call it, was nothing more than an escape pod. There were no weapons or even a steering system. If there had been any communication devices, they had been badly enough damaged in the crash that Sam couldn't recover them. He could conclude nothing more than the fact this small pod was a long ways from home. Just getting to Earth seemed to be an impressive feat for the small ship.

With no information on the alien, the decision to leave the alien with Colleen was a bit of a risk on both of their parts. On one hand, standard protocol would be to report to the base and bring everything he had found there. Aliens were generally considered to be a serious danger unless proven otherwise. On the other hand, Sam had been afraid of what would happen if he had given over the alien. The government in his experience tended to view every kind of foreigner as a threat. Sam really didn't want to give any living creature, especially one so clearly far it's home , to anyone until he had more information about the species of alien he had come across.

During the first few months he spent hours and hours researching. It was easy to clean up the landing sight and report basic readings. It had been impossible however, to find any information on the newly acquired alien that he had found. He spent late hours hacking into secret files and reading the minimal information he had available to him on different species of aliens and alien tech that had been uncovered over the years.

In the end, it was Colleen who had really been the one to decide to keep Katie. It was startling and somewhat of a blow to them emotionally the first time they had realized that the little alien they had taken in had begun to sport the Holt family features looks that they had seen grow in Matt.

Sam had guessed there was some sort of mimicking ability that came from their species. Some sort of adaptation or even a coding gene that allowed the alien to blend into the environment. Soon, Katie's eyes went from blue to brown and her ears slowly over the first five years of her life slimmed down until they were all but gone.

But it wasn't like the science really mattered, in the end. Colleen and Sam had fallen deeply in love with their new little girl. And that's all she ended really being, another loved family member. She had been their impossible chance at a second child. It was normality that had solidified Sam's theory that the alien was really just nothing more than a little refugee. The late night feedings, diaper changes, temper tantrums and the mundane flow of life had integrated her so into their lives that before they knew it- they were already considering her to be a permanent fixture in their life.

From Sam's tales and what Shiro had seen when he visited the Holt's. It was clear that Katie Holt was unconditionally loved no matter the circumstances in which she arrived to the family. It was really nice, all these years later for Shiro have been able so watch Katie grown up and then once again meet her in the deep trenches of space a million miles away from home. She was strong, brave and Shiro knew that somewhere in the stars, Sam was proud of her.

Shiro held up his arms in a guard and blocked a hard strike that came from Pidge. His arms down and he easily threw off her scrawny kick before going back on the offensive with more vigor and intensity than he had thrown at her before.

If Sam's little girl was out here fighting against one of the most dangerous alien races out here then Shiro was going to do everything he could to do his best to make sure she was as prepared as possible. He owed his best friend that much if nothing else.

 **Author's Notes:** Shiro never needed to ask if Matt was an Altean because he already knew from the start that Pidge wasn't human. In fact all the Holts knew except for Matt and Pidge. Matt was too young to remember and Pidge thought she was human right up until she ended up on a spaceship.


	8. Looks Can Be Deceiving

_fightinggrape: Hi! I was thinking, wouldn't a short story on Pidge's Altean strength coming into play be interesting?_

Looks Can Be Deceiving

"Good work Paladins!" Allura called, her voice echoing over the hangar. A few of them lifted their heads and Pidge slipped off her helmet, causing her hair to spring up.

"It was a little close at the end but we managed to get all the supplies." The green paladin tucked her helmet under her arm and walked over to the princess. She ran her free hand through her helmet hair. "I even managed to find something interesting I thought you might want when we were shopping in the distinct."

"Really?" Allura's brow went up in surprise and she closed the distance between them and watched as Pidge dig a hand through each pockets.

"It's should be around here… Ah ha!" Pidge pulled her hand out of her pocket and held it up to the princess.

"Whatever is it?" Allura asked, inspecting the small chip that was sitting in Pidge's palm.

"It's a map." The green paladin adjusted her glasses and carefully picked up the small piece. "I remember last week you said that the navigation system was outdated because of the amount of time the castle had been dormant." Allura's eyes widened in delight and surprise as she took sight of the object in Pidge's hand. The green paladin grinned at Allura's excitement, "It's an updated map of every known place on the galaxy- of course you'll have to have Coran run it through diagnostics for bugs or malware but it should to be able to universally link up to the computer."

"Oh! This is a fantastic find Pidge!" Allura beamed, carefully taking the small piece of tech from her hand, "I'll be sure to give this to Coran to check over. This will only help our fight against the Galra. A map that is of this time period will be very helpful. Wherever did you find it?"

Pidge preened at the praise,"It wasn't too hard to find, but did have to do some bartering with a wicked looking-"

Their voices trailed echoed across the chamber, unnoticing of the four boys near the back of the lions.

"It might be nice to show an actual appreciation of our 'good work' if Allura actually helped us unload the supplies." Keith grumbled, grunting as he lifted a heavy crate to stack. There were about fifty crates in total and many of them held items that would end up being placed on different sides of the castle.

"We would get this done faster if you would just lift another box instead of complaining about it." Lance shot back, craning back as he tried to stack three different boxes.

"Here, let me get that for you." Hunk spoke, putting his hands under the stack before lifting the burden off of Lance. The blue paladin nodded his head in thanks and Keith rolled his eyes.

"You're one to talk. All you ever do is complain. And for the record, I've lifted twice as much supplies as you have." Keith grabbed the other side of the crate Hunk was carrying and together pushed it up on top of a stack. "I'm just saying that it would be nice if everyone contributed to the workload." Keith stated, shooting a look at Lance before carefully lifting another set of heavy crates. The three he had in his arms were exactly like the ones that Lance struggled with.

"You want to make two girls lift a bunch of heavy boxes?" Lance asked, making sure to lift four boxes as he flexed his triceps.

"It's not about the amount of weight being lifted," Keith continued, staking two crates in one arm as he lifted them high above his head, "It's about equal contribution. That's how a team is supposed to be." He set two more crates on top of a stack of five and pushed the whole grouping towards the wall.

"That's fair I suppose," Lance placated, lifting up one of the larger crates with the palm on his hand, "I can see where you're coming from. If you want equal contribution, there are four over here-" Lance gestured to the other boys and Keith's eye twitched as he pushed the box up so it only was on his two finger, "-and there are only two over there."

Keith's eyes narrowed, "So? What's that got to do with anything?"

Hunk paused at Lance's tone and he began to become uneasy. "Guys-"

"So, I'm just saying that the numbers don't add up." Lance nonchalantly shrugged. He strutted over to pick up another box, making sure to stretch his arms high up to give the other two boys (and hopefully Allura) a gun show. "We'd have even numbers, three and three, if you just moved over there and gossiped with the girls. That'll make it all equal out."

"Guys you're not really stacking them in the right spot." Hunk's face fell and he watched as another tower of boxes hit into another and cause a few of the crates to crash together.

"What are you trying to say, Lance?" Keith's tone was like ice and the blue paladin gave him a grin.

"I really think we should just finish up stacking the boxes." Hunk's voice rose slightly in pitch and he tried to catch Shiro's eye from where he was standing in the back of the loading dock. It seemed that the black paladin hadn't been able to hear them at all.

"Don't worry Keith, you go on ahead." Stretching his arms up once again Lance carefully showed off his toned arms gave a charming smile. Allura's laugh bounced off the walls and he nodded his head back towards the pair across the room. "The ladies are gossiping, you might as well join them. Let us handle the unloading."

Hunk barely managed to catch the exchange going on between Lance and Keith. The stack of crates which they had been slowly building up was beginning to wobble. His eyes went wide and Hunk quickly ran forward. His body slammed into the side of the crates, and he barely held back the bottom few boxes in the stack from falling right onto the other two paladins. Meanwhile they were still arguing and hadn't even noticed what was going on. Hunk's face went red with the effort and he let out a breath as the stack creaked and finally stilled in it's shaking.

"-you''ll be building better bonds with Pidge and Allura, your teammates!" Lance's voice was unnecessarily bright, "Don't worry about it Keith, really."

"Building bonds? Don't be stupid, Lance. They're you're teammates too." Keith spoke, leveraging an unimpressed stare at the blue paladin.

"I'm all for talking with the ladies, don't get me wrong." Lance's smug look widened to a shit-eating grin, "But uh, I just don't think I got as much in common with them as you do, ya know?" At Keith's look, Lance continued, "The men will handle the stacking. That's all I'm saying, pal." Lance gave a smile and patted Keith on the shoulder before dismissing him entirely. "You go ahead and join the girls."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Keith's glare was electric and Hunk's stomach couldn't help but drop at the look in Lance's eye.

Hunk attempted a weak laugh but the darkening look on Keith's face didn't really seem that funny to him. "Oh boy." Hunk whispered as the room seemed to drop ten degrees, "How about we all just lift the boxes?" He placated once again, sweat dropping as electricity passed between the two.

"I don't think Keith is up for it." Lance shot, rubbing his nose. "He wants the girls to do it for him. He probably couldn't finish the job even if he tried." He was teasing, everyone knew it and yet Keith couldn't hold himself back.

"You barely manage to carry two boxes and you're telling me I couldn't handle it?!" Keith exploded, whipping his head between the two, "Why don't you go over there with the girls! You have the weak build for it!"

"Pfft. Have you taken a look in the mirror lately? Not to mention those are some of the girliest hands I've ever seen." Lance rose a brow at Keith's fingers and Hunk couldn't help but choke back a snort from the unexpected burn. Keith did have unusually slim fingers. They were useful for the complexity in which he wielded his weapons but Hunk wouldn't be surprised if he had been made fun of in the barracks. And by Keith's reaction, Lance had clearly touched a nerve.

The red paladin glared at both of them and his face turned as read as his uniform, "I can stack ten times as many boxes as you can!" Keith shouted, catching the attention of the other unaware occupants in the room.

"Oh yeah?" Lance set down his box and stalked up to Keith, "I can stack a hundred times as many as you can!" He boasted, poking the red paladin in the chest.

Keith shoved his arm away, "Well I can stack a thousand times more than you can with just one arm!"

"Prove it!"

By now both of paladins were nose and nose, the tension between them was thick. Hunk took a slight step back and held his hands out, "Guys, I really don't think-"

Hunk didn't get much else out before the other boys attacked the load of crates with a mad frenzy. Box after box was haphazardly stacked and thrown down from the hangar as the boys made a mad scramble to get as many as possible. Hunk barely managed to stay out of their line of fire as each paladin ran up and down the ramp as fast as they could. Soon, the hangar was empty and there were two large stacks of boxes before him.

"See, Keith?" Lance preened, elbowing his stack with a grim, "No problem. I got this stacked easy peasy."

Keith let out a scoff, "Take a look at mine. I clearly have more boxes than you. Face it, my stack is way better than yours."

Lance widely shook his head, "Are you kidding?" He sputtered, "No way! Hunk, tell him I'm right!"

"Yeah, Hunk! Tell this loser that my stacking skills are way better than his!"

Both towers ominously creaked behind the two paladins and Hunk found himself a little loss for words as he felt their stares drilling into his forehead. "Well…" Hunk put a hand to his chin. Looking up, he examined the two stacks carefully. "I don't know, Keith. Lance's does seem a little higher-"

"But that's only because he stacked a few of them the long way." Keith stretched his arms and pointed to a few in Lance's stack which was beginning to precariously sway. A loud creak sounded out and Hunk visibly winced. Neither of the towers were going to stay up much longer. Keith smirked, "See? Mine has just as many boxes and is much more efficiently done. Your stack is wobbling, Lance. It's not supposed to do that-"

"Efficiency means nothing when it comes to creative license!" Lance spoke, gesturing wildly between the two. "Tell him Hunk! Keith's tower is a tower of stupid."

Hunk put his hands up in a show of innocence, "Lance, I don't think there is such thing as-"

"You're a tower of stupid!" Keith bellowed, shoving past Hunk.

"What seems to be the trouble?"

Allura's voice didn't even faze Keith and Lance's angry bickering and Hunk stepped around them to cover. "We're uh... just having a slight disagreement on the best way to stack the crates."

"Oh!" Allura noted the disarray of boxes and grimaced slightly as she took note of the rather large display of boxes. She nodded her head thoughtfully, "Well if you would like, I wouldn't mind helping stack them. With all of us going it shouldn't take much time." Allura moved to pick up one of the fallen boxes, moving carefully around the two stacks that were soon to fall, "On Altea, we have a categorizing system that was very prudent for-"

An abrupt laugh stopped Allura right in her tracks, "Princess please, the _men_ got this." Lance preened, giving Keith a look, "Maybe you could teach Keith the system while the guys stack them."

"You're right Lance, the men do have it under control." Keith spat, leaning his face right into Lance's, his eyes raked down Lance's features and he snarled, "Unfortunately I don't seem to be looking at any at the moment."

Allura blinked, the boys were still arguing but a few of Lance's words stuck to her, "Excuse me but what exactly are you insinuating when you say, 'the men'." Allura's voice was carefully neutral and neither Keith nor Lance seemed to notice the decidedly frosty look they were on the receiving end of.

But Hunk did and was slowly nudging away from the two boys. He gulped craned his head back to look at the loading dock. The yellow paladin wasn't sure if he should call for Shiro or just behind a stack of boxes.

Pidge rolled her eyes and pocketed the handheld map, "They're just being pig headed, testosterone filled morons. It's easiest to just let them trip over themselves trying to prove that they're the strongest."

"I'm just saying Keith, the muscles are real." Lance wiggles his eyebrows and kissed his biceps.

"I hope you're not insinuating that my gender, of all things, makes me unfit to carry supplies-" Allura interrupted, her voice a bit more forced, "-you would be sorely mistaken if such were the case." The princess put her hands on her hips in a clear show of disapproval.

"-honestly I don't see why they're always like this. It's not like muscles are really a sign of any sort of superiority or masculinity in that manner- not biologically at least." Pidge continued, not really talking to much of anyone at this point, "If you look strictly at the animal kingdom, a creature with more muscles doesn't necessarily mean that they are especially considered to be a greater threat. A great example is actually a species on my home planet-"

Honestly, Hunk wasn't sure what was worse. The face that Allura was beginning to actually get angry or the fact that Keith and Lance were blatantly ignoring her while she was angry. Hunk didn't know a lot about girls but what he did know is that the last thing you wanted to do was ignore them.

"My stack is a hundred times better than yours." Keith huffed, "Artistic creativity is garbage. You think the Galra are going to run in fear of your 'artistic creativity'."

"Well they might run from yours."

Between Keith and Lance's bickering, Allura's glaring and Pidge's continual and seemingly unending commentary, Hunk just couldn't take it anymore.

"Either wrestle it out or stop it now!" Hunk's voice was louder than he had intended and the other four looked back over at him.

Pidge paled, "Ummm Hunk? Don't you remember last time they decided to-

Both Keith and Lance gave a wicked grin and Pidge was barely able to stumble back as they recklessly charged each other.

"Gladly!"

"Gladly!"

They didn't get a chance to touch. Pidge stumbled over a few crates and her back slammed back into one of the towers. An ominously loud creak of wood echoed across the bay and the other three could only watch as both teetering stacks suddenly broke into each other. It was chaos. Crates came crumbling, smashing into the floor. Wood broke and supplies were thrown across the bay. All four of them immediately scattered.

Pidge threw herself away from the first box. Her face went ashen white and she barely managed to dodge another couple crates before she noticed something sliding across the floor.

"Pidge! The map!" Allura's voice caught her ear and the green paladin immediately shoved her hand into her pocket. Pidge was horrified to find nothing more than a large hole in her pants where the electronic map should've been.

Her body reacted before her mind could catch up and it wasn't until Pidge had thrown herself across the floor and sprawled herself on small dense, electronic board that she realized that boxes were right on top of her. She didn't even have time to brace for impact.

Right before they came in contact, a black figure came up from behind and ripped her back by the tag of her shirt. With a final rumble, the loading bay went silent.

"What is going on?"

Shiro's voice was strong and everyone in the room quieted. Pidge let out a slight yelp as he dropped her to her feet. She stumbled a few steps before finally regaining her balance. Patting herself down, Pidge immediately turned back towards the hulking pile of wood. Without hesitation, she went diving through the pile in search of the map. The rest of the team remained silent as Shiro's eyes seemed to pierce every one of them.

"Five minutes, is that really all it takes before our team devolves into a squabbling mess?" His commanding tone was hard and he moved to stand in front of everyone. "Just look at this mess. Thrown in piles, destroyed. Pidge almost got hurt because of your clowning around-"

"I'm fine guys, really-" Pidge interrupted, pushing a few more crates aside before popping her head up from under a piece of wood. Wood chips hung from her hair and her glasses were splashed with some substance that couldn't be identified. Her assurances were clearly not appreciated as one sharp look from Shiro allowed the bay was silent again.

The black paladin bent down and picked up a few wood shards. Holding his arm out, he let them fall through his hand. Each one splintered and skipped as they hit the floor. The three other paladins cringed at the sound knowing full well they had played a large part in it. "This is our supplies. The only supplies we are going have for the next few months. It wasn't easily finding a port that would be safe enough to dock in. It's irresponsible and I can't believe that you would-"

"May I interject, Shiro?" Allura's voice was a surprise to the others. It was rare for anyone to interrupt Shiro when he was in the middle of lecturing. Especially the princess, most of the time she wholeheartedly supported his tongue lashings.

"Of course, Princess" The black paladin cleared his throat and nodded at her to continue.

"Well I believe that we have all had a bit of a long morning," She began, her kind tone surprising a few of the boys who were expecting a harsh scolding, "-between gathering supplies and other things, it might be nice to take a small break."

"Take a break?" Pidge's voice was incredulous, Are you kidding?! But I need to find the rest of these pieces! The map totally busted and it's going to take the whole afternoon to put it together."

Keith and Lance winced at their teammates declaration. They didn't have any doubts that it had been their doing that had caused the map to break.

"You're absolutely right, Pidge." Allura spoke, turning to face the green paladin, "But, it is also a task that can be done at a later date. The map won't be essential until we pass into the next sector." Allura moved to stand next to Shiro in front of the other paladins, "Wrestling may not be such a bad thing. I understand that friendly competition is a bit of a bonding event on Earth, right? And I think as a team, some bonding might be of some use right now."

Hunk froze. There was something about her tone that was just slightly off putting. It was too put together and just too soft in comparison to how she had worked up she had been a minute ago, especially considering how excited she had been over the map. He was a little worried of where she was going with this.

Shiro rose a brow, "Well yes I suppose, but the supplies, Princess-"

"Can always be cleaned up and stacked at a later point." Allura finished, nodding her head. "They're on the ship so it's not as if they are going to sprout legs and walk away."

Shiro frowned, "Princess, I'm not sure if-"

"Then it's settled." Allura gave a serene smile and beckoned the group with a wave of her hand. "Come along, my paladins."

Pidge audibly groaned at the proclamation, "Do we really have to do this now?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she begrudging trailed after the princess along with everyone else. "For the record, if anything goes wrong I wholeheartedly disapprove of the whole thing."

Shiro stared after Allura for a long moment and was about to open his mouth until Hunk caught his eye. He gave Shiro a wide eyed look and shook his head in a way that could only be interpreted as 'danger'.

The black paladin straightened at the signal and gave Hunk a searching look before looking sharply back at Allura. Hunk wasn't sure what Shiro saw the second time he looked at her but whatever it was, it made him fall in with the same compliance, albeit with a bit more caution that the other paladins were following Allura with.

 _'Well this outta be good.'_ Hunk mused, following behind everyone else. He glanced back at the mess of boxes and shook his head. It would still be there when they got back.

* * *

"So what sort of competitions do you compete in on Earth?" Allura asked, quickly typing in the security code for the training room before stepping through the automatic door. The paladins followed after.

"Historically there have been a number of competitions, originating all the way back to some of the first civilizations." Pidge halfheartedly replied, adjusting her glasses to properly sit on her nose. "Just the Greeks themselves had a whole array of varying competitions that combined many different elements-"

"I say we wrestle like Hunk suggested." Lance interrupted, he put a fist to his palm and gave Keith a grin to which the red paladin ignored.

"No, just straight up wrestling gives both you and Hunk an unfair advantage." Keith soured, "You have longer arms and Hunk will just bear hug everyone. That's not a very good competition at all.."

"I wasn't suggesting anything." Hunk cocked his head to the side and frowned at Keith. He was unsure if it was a compliment or an insult.

He did like giving bear hugs though.

"I say we go for an all out MMA match." Keith gave a wolf like grin.

"But this is purely a strength test!" Lance argued, crossing his arms. "Punching and kicks don't prove anything."

"I'm pretty sure punching and kicking constitutes as strength." Keith gave him a look, "As in, I'm stronger because I can kick you harder."

"I think I agree more along the line's Keith's suggestion." Allura tentatively broached her opinion, clasping her hands in front of her. "I'm not sure what 'M-M-A' means in your culture but the only way the Alteans would go about a match would be a test of combat."

"Ha! Even the princess agrees!"

Allura beamed a grin of victory at his enthusiasm and and took a stance, "Then it is settled!" Her voice echoed loudly and she struck a hand up in the air, "Today's challenge will be mortal combat!"

All the paladins seemed to freeze at her declaration and the ones closest to her took a few steps back. Both Hunk and Pidge sweatdropped.

"You'd think for a diplomatic society, they wouldn't proclaim so much violence," Pidge whispered, edging back to hide slightly behind Hunk.

"No one is punching, kicking or _killing_ anybody." Shiro declared giving both Keith and Lance a look before settling his eyes on Allura whose face had since gone bright red. "The last thing we need is for someone to get seriously injured."

"No! Of course not!" Allura choked out, her ears steaming, "Sorry! I just got a little carried away," She gave a nervous chuckle and carefully stepped back away from the middle.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right." Shiro spoke, putting his hands on his hips. "Because this is a team effort, everyone will participate- which means that the event has to be something that is fair for everyone and the level they're at."

The green paladin ran a hand through her curly hair before snapping her fingers. "Of course! The purest form of a strength test! How did I not think of this earlier?" Clearing her throat she gave Shiro a nod, "I got an idea but the only was this is going to work is with two tables and Coran."

* * *

"Arm wrestling?" Coran hummed at the suggestion and carefully looked down at the table. "An interesting idea but how am I supposed to referee the matches if I'm not familiar with the rules. I mean you explained them once but what if there is a technicality or it's a tie? I certainly won't be a very good judge of that."

"It's simple, Coran. All you gotta do is call the match when someone's hand hits the table." Pidge gestured around to the other paladins. "All of us are familiar with the rules so if anyone is cheating then we'll be able to call it out. And besides-" Pidge's face soured and she couldn't help but glare slightly at Lance and Keith who were currently riling each other up. "They're so full of themselves that cheating probably won't occur to them."

"And this 'arm wrestling'..." Coran mulled over the words for a moment as if he wasn't sure how they were supposed to roll off the tongue, "It doesn't hurt the combatants?"

"If you're not including pride, then no, it doesn't." Pidge smirked, "Pretty good idea, right? That way no one is going to be beating up each other and-" She thumbed towards Keith and Lance, "-those two clowns won't beat the snot out of each other."

Coran pondered this for a moment, "I think I understand. It reminds me a bit of a competition on Mezka, except instead of pinning the arms down they would try and bite them off. The winner of course would get to eat the remaining-"

"I think we should go with the Altean way to match up ." Allura spoke, cutting Coran off before waving the rest of the crew over. "If all the competitors would line up~" Her heels clicked against the white tile floor and Allura handed a small rod to Coran, "If you would, please."

"Certainly, Princess!" As soon as he grasped the rod, Allura made her way back and lined up against the wall along with the other paladins. As soon as he had managed to get the rod working and lit up he stood in front of the others. "All right! As I'm told, you competitors are said to be aware of the rules but for the sake of all six of you, I will repeat them for you all to hear, first off-"

Pidge's nose scrunched, "Wait a second," Frowning, she slowly began to count off the number of contestants. "Wait, you're competing?!" Pidge's mouth slightly hung open and she turned to face the princess standing on the end, "But! But!"

"Oh don't worry, Pidge." Allura's smile was frightening, "I think you will be happy to see that it is the females who will be wiping the floor in this competition."

"Hunk! Pidge!" Coran's hand whipped in front and the rod came inches from her face, "The choosening stick has chosen you!"

"Wait what?" Pidge paled, "I don't want to go first! She pushed at Shiro who was beside her. You go first!"

"Sorry, Number Five but that's not how it works." Coran sniffed, poking her with the edge of the rod, "Once you've been chosen by the choosening stick then there is absolutely no changing it."

What do you mean the "choosening stick" chose me?" Pidge balked, "You just picked me out yourself at random! Choosening isn't even a word! Have someone else go!"

Coran wouldn't hear a word of it. Raising the rod up high, he pointed towards the table. "Take your place, competitor!" Sighing, Pidge trudged to the table and slumped down in the chair across from Hunk. The other paladins moved and surrounded the table.

"The rules are simple," Coran spoke, his voice going low with a building excitement. The lights in the surrounding parts of the training facility began to just about scoffed as she spotted the space mice fiddling with the controls for the lights. "Is this really necessary-"

"Hush, Pidge! The referee is speaking!" The princess spoke, cutting the green paladin off as she regarded Coran with the same amount of intensity as Keith and Lance. At his point, Pidge really couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Each competitor will grasp arms with their dominant hand," Coran continued, oblivious of Pidge's distaste, "-which in this match will be the right hand because Pidge here is ambidextrous."

Hunk frowned as he set his right hand up on the table, "You're ambidextrous? I didn't know that."

Pidge shrugged, "I mean for some things, I guess. I've never really had a problem switching between hands. Aren't you ambidextrous, Keith?"

"No, I'm right handed." Keith flicked the knife out of his belt and flipped it up, "But I've trained enough with my left that I'm equally good with both. He caught the spinning blade with his left and flicked it between his fingers in a show of dexterity. But before he could flick it up again, Shiro firmly grasped the hilt and easily snatched it from his grip.

"You could use some work if you're just gonna let me take it from you." The corners of Shiro's mouth upturned just slightly as gave a good natured smile and he dangled the weapon in front of Keith. "Tomorrow during drill, I want you to strictly use your right for shielding and your left as-"

"Quiet!" Coran announced, shushing everyone with a wave of his hand. Shiro silently handed Keith back his knife. "Thank you, Shiro." Coran cleared his throat and once again Pidge had to shield her eyes as the lights harshly focused down on her and Hunk alone.

"Now listen carefully, competitors. I'm only going to say this once." Coran's voice was hushed with intensity and Pidge couldn't even help but sit up with anticipation.

According to Coran's instruction and their own previous knowledge, both Hunk and Pidge properly placed their elbows down and carefully allowed their unused arms to lay vertical in front.

"Now, as soon as I give the go, you're both going to use everything you got to try and pin the other's arm down on the table. As soon as it touches, you're out. Winner stays and competes against the next competitor summoned by the choosening stick."

Pidge groaned, "Can we all please agree on the fact that choosening is not a word."

"Shhhhhh!"

Pidge grumbled at the large amount of backlash. With a sour look on her face, she sunk in her seat and muttered a few chosen words under her breath that resulted in a scathing look of disapproval from the princess. Pidge gave a sheepish smile and sunk slightly lower in her seat. Sometimes she forgot that Allura had much better hearing than the other paladins.

Beads of sweat began to run down Hunk's face and he grimaced at Coran's instructions. He never liked this sort of thing and Pidge's hand felt extra small when grasped in his. He couldn't help but give Pidge an apologetic look. Hunk really didn't want to hurt her. He was already preparing to hold himself back, especially when Pidge was slumped back in her chair and completely uninterested in competing.

"Pidge." Shiro's voice caught the green paladin's attention and she glanced at the team leader. "This is a team exercise, don't dismiss it just because you're not interested. I want you to try your best, you're more capable than you think." Pidge reluctantly sat up at his instruction but she didn't lose the bored look on her face.

"Are both competitors ready?" Coran looked between the pair. Between Hunk's pouring sweat and Pidge's lack of response he seemed satisfied enough. Coran smacked the choosening stick against the table, "Begin!"

On the mark, Hunk reluctantly began to put force behind his arm, enough to where he shouldn't have too much trouble bringing her hand down. After a moment or two, Hunk realized with a shock that her hand wasn't budging. Grinding his teeth, Hunk began to apply more and more force behind his arm until his whole body was shaking. Pidge one the other side of the table hadn't even moved.

With the same bored expression, she yawned and looked back between Hunk and Coran, "Oh we started?"

Hunk's eyes' bulged and he wasn't sure if he was feeling awe or horror over the fact that she was managing to hold his hand back and still act like nothing had happened.

"Pidge. Hunk. Stop messing around."

The green paladin barely held herself from rolling her eyes at Keith's admonishment, "Alright! Alright!"

Of course Keith would think he was faking it. Hunk had moved his line of sight and it was clear to all of them that they thought he was putting on a show, all but Allura. Hunk swallowed and his face went slightly pale at her predatory grin. It was clear that she knew exactly what was going on. Hunk stared at her for a long moment before he finally realized, _'Oh quiznack-'_

Hunk could do nothing but watch as his hand was ferociously slammed into the back of the table. Pidge looked more surprised than anyone else.

"Match!" Coran just about barreled himself over the table, sweeping his hands across in the table in a very dramatic declaration. "Number Five has won the match in an upset. Already this competition has taken a surprising-"

"Hunk?! You lost?!" Lance was ballistic, going around the table inspecting the table from every angle.

"I won?" Pidge muttered to herself, looking down at her own hand before shooting a glare across the table. "Haha, very funny Hunk. You really didn't have to lose to me."

Hunk barely registered Coran's commentary Pidge's accusations. He couldn't stop looking between her and Allura, his head whipped around and he was having trouble comprehending. The princess wasn't giving anything away, her expression decidedly neutral on the subject from but Hunk could see her eyes were sparkling with mirth. She obviously found the whole situation very funny.

"Well, with Hunk out then I suppose I got this competition in the bag." Keith raised his arms above his head in a long stretch.

"In your dreams, Keith!"

Shiro nodded his head with almost a reluctance as if he had completely expected the outcome. Between Shiro, Allura and Coran- Hunk was slowly beginning to feel like he was the butt of a joke. He glanced between Lance and Keith who were boasting about their eminent victory and he almost felt sorry, almost. He felt more terrified for them than ever as the princess was carefully buffing her nails as if there wasn't a problem in the world. The yellow paladin swallowed and he felt a little sick to his stomach. The princess was going to kill them.

Getting up from the table, he quickly shook Pidge's hand, "Great match, Pidge. You know what they say, may the best competitor win-"

His rambling and his hard hand shake was causing Pidge's entire body to move up and down with the motion. Her glasses fell to the bridge of her nose and the world around her was beginning to spin. "-I think I'll go bake some celebratory cookies." His rambling didn't last long as he was already halfway across the room making his escape.

"Hey, no fair!" Pidge pushed herself up from the table, "How come Hunk gets to leave?!" Pushing herself up from the table, she ran across the room and matched his gait.

"Where are you going, Number Five?" Coran called across the room, "You're still in the competition, you have another match!"

"Uh… I'm gonna help Hunk make my celebratory cookies!" With a quick grin and a wave, Pidge and Hunk disappeared through the door.

Coran stared after them for a moment, "Right then! I suppose quitting while ahead can be an admirable trait in some cases. You know what they say, one Dhja bug in hand is better than…"

Coran's words of wisdom slowly faded into the distance. The doors shut and both Hunk and Pidge breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I'm going to go find the rest of the map. If I can find it, I bet I can hook it up to the castle computer system and update the whole system!" With a smile, Pidge was already halfway down the corridor. "Oh!" She skidded to a halt and turned on a heel back towards him, "And I don't care if you threw the match or not, I still want my cookies, Hunk!"

"Will do!" The yellow paladin's voice echoed down the hallway and he wiped the nervous sweat from the back of his neck. He didn't bother asking if Pidge needed help moving the heavy crates, she wouldn't have any problem with that. Not that she would notice that there was anything strange about how she could easily move a stack of boxes that was almost three times her weight. It was almost funny how unaware Pidge was sometimes.

Hunk turned back towards the training room doors. He could hear the faint declarations that Coran was making and he shuddered slightly as he was sure he heard Lance and Allura's names being called next. Hunk quickened his pace down the hall and made his way to the kitchen. He would've stayed to watch the rest of the competition, he would've. But he really didn't need to see what was soon to be a bloodbath if the princess' expression was anything to go by.

And if he happened to see two Lance and Keith like figures dented into the training room wall when he was walking by the doors to bring Pidge her cookies, then it really wasn't any of his business.

 **Author's Note:** This one is more Hunk centric and it really isn't a huge show of Pidge's potential but I had a lot of fun writing it. I combined the request with another silly idea I had.


	9. Photographs

_Coran narrates the paladins down a trip down through memory lane, much to Allura's displeasure (some spoilers for season six)_

Photographs

Good morning, paladins!" Coran announced walking into the common area, he was barely given a response as both Lance and Keith barely seemed to move from where they were sunken into the couch. Lance was still in his bathrobe and Keith hadn't even attempted to wrangle in his bed head as he was sluggishly going through the motions to pour himself a bowl of cereal. Well, something that might've been similar to cereal if it hadn't been giving off a green mossy glow.

"Dude," Lance didn't even bother turning his head toward Keith before addressing him, "Shouldn't you be doing that in the kitchen?"

"I don't see how you can put your feet up on the coffee table but I can't pour a bowl of cereal on the couch." Keith spoke, flipping the box upside down in an attempt to get the last bits out.

Lance wriggled his toes which were indeed on the coffee table and shrugged before leaning over to examine Keith's bowl. "You sure that's cereal? Last time I checked, cereal isn't supposed to move."

The red paladin glanced down at his bowl and grimaced slightly before setting it down on the cushion next to him.

"Ah! Good morning, Hunk!" Coran's voice was a chipper as ever and the paladin in question barely seemed to drag himself through the door.

He plopped himself down on the seat next to Keith and after a long moment, the red paladin glanced over, "Hey bud, I think you sat in my cereal."

"Hmm?" Hunk looked down slightly at the questionable substance smushed into the cushions and into the seat in his pants. Reaching a hand out, Hunk swiped up a glob and stuck it in his mouth, "That's not cereal, that's the new tofu I had growing."

"You can grow tofu?" Lance asked, leaning down to examine the goo.

"Well it's not actually tofu, it's a tofu tasting plant. I got from the last sector we stopped in." Hunk explained, wiping at a few of the larger chunks before giving up all together. He didn't seem to have the energy either.

"But why would you grow tofu?" Keith asked, leaning his head over, "It doesn't even taste good."

Hunk shrugged, "Well it might've, I guess we won't know considering I just sat in it."

"Eww, Hunk. What is that?"

All three boys turned to see Pidge typing away at her computer that she was holding securely against herself. Walking into the room, she was full of energy. She bustled around, grabbing at a set of funky fushia pink fruit before fully attacking the monitor with a quick swipe of her hand.

"It's space tofu." Lance murmured, stretching his arms back.

"It was supposed to be my breakfast but Hunk sat on it." Keith gave a sideways glance towards the paladin in question and he crossed his arms over his chest in a familiar brooding manner. But the tired strain of his voice only made the attempt at his signature cool and detached persona sound whiny.

Hunk frowned slightly and wiped a little at the tofu, "Hey. It's not like I wanted to sit in your breakfast, don't make it sound like that or Pidge is gonna get the wrong idea."

Pidge however, had long checked out of the conversation. Her legs were crisscrossed and she was sitting down on the floor. Her back leaned against the legs of the couch (just slightly out of reach of the dripping goo) and she was already feverishly typing at her computer. The three boys strained to look over at what she was doing.

"Wait a second, is that the radio patch we were trying to crack the other day?" Hunk stood and his sudden movement to stand caused the other two boys who leaning against him to topple into the large smear of tofu that was crushed into the couch.

Lance nor Keith couldn't hide their displeasure as it stuck to the front of their attire and their arms. Lance heroically tried to save his favorite bathrobe but the slimy green plant matter only seemed to smear and soak deeper into the cotton material. Keith couldn't get anything off his arms or his sleep shirt. Turning, he wiped his arms on Lance's bathrobe. This normally would've ended in a full blown fight but the boys were just too tired. Shrugging, Lance and Keith sunk back into the couch in their previous positions, uncaring about the tofu now patterning their forearms. Neither Pidge nor Hunk had noticed a thing.

"How did you manage to patch this?" Hunk asked, leaning over the examine the numbers, "I haven't seen a matrix this complicated since…" Hunk frowned , "Actually I don't think I've ever seen a matrix this complicated."

"That's the beauty of it!" Pidge was beaming, "It's not about cracking it at all, there is one sequence out of each side that is mismatched, so when I put it together-" Her hands swipes over the screen and the few scatterings of numbers flowed a bright green, "-the radio channel opens up! Of course it only opens one way and I would really like to open up the other. If I do that, I could upgrade the lions and probably double our range signal for communication."

Hunk quickly added the math up in his head, "But to find the mismatched sequence, it would've taken hours. You'd have to write a whole new program." His eyes narrowed and he suddenly took in his teammates appearance, "How much sleep did you get last night?"

Pidge's eyes never left the screen, "Oh, I don't know. I think maybe two varga, three if you count the small patches I did to the program." The green paladin gave a slight smirk, "I'm not sure if that even counts as work."

"I'm honestly not even sure how you're awake right now." Hunk spoke before leaning forward in a conspiring whisper, "Don't tell Shiro but Keith, Lance and I were up till two in the morning playing Killbot Phantasm."

"Again? Last time you guys did that, Allura made us all clean out all the crawl spaces and ventilation because you and Lance fell asleep in the middle of on of her meetings."

Hunk scratched the back of his head, "Yeah she was pretty mad about that." He sheepishly laughed and gave her a side glance, "For how late you stay up, I'm surprised you haven't fallen asleep. How many days has it been since you got a good night's sleep?

"Sleep is for the weak." Pidge spoke, her eyes glued back to the scree

"Sleep is for everyone that belongs to a species that requires it."

"Well lucky for me, mine doesn't." She smirked conspiringly at Hunk's baffled features, "I've been doing some reading in the castle library and I came across an anatomy book." Pidge explained, pulling up the files onto her screen, "I scanned it into the computer and have been going through it. It has tons of information on different alien species." Hunk's eyes were glued to the hundreds of different pictures and diagrams of species that were quickly passing in his line of vision before disappearing. "I was cataloging them into my own personal data base when I came across this." The screen stopped moving and Hunk quickly read through the first few paragraphs on information. He stared at the humanoid like figure pictured on the page, "There's a chapter on alteans?"

Pidge nodded her head. She was carefully reading through the words that she had already read at least three different times. "All the information seems pretty general but I don't have any other references to back it up with. For an altean ship, there isn't a whole lot of reading about the species as a whole. I've found some history diagrams, a couple story books, some science journals- nothing with anything groundbreaking of course, but I did like this article on the mineral composition for the Balmeran crystal." Pidge pulled up another file and Hunk glanced through a couple architectural diagrams and she continued listing resources, "-and I even found an album that has Allura's baby pictures in it."

Hunk's eyes went wide at the last one, "No way. You did not!" This time, Pidge couldn't hide a laugh as she turned the screen towards Hunk, "Take a look at this one."

Coran, who hadn't much paid attention to the going on's of the paladins, perked up at those words he strolled over to where everyone was sitting. "Allura's baby pictures you said?" Coran's voice startled the pair and the bright tone loudly outmatched Hunk and Pidge's quiet whispering. Lance and Keith raised their heads and they too clamored over, Lance easily lead the charge.

"Allura's baby pictures?! I want to see!" Shoving through, Lance wedged himself between Hunk and Pidge as Coran delicately grasped the computer and held up the screen. There was a clear look of nostalgia as he traced the young altean features in the picture.

"Oh I remember this one." Coran spoke, pointing towards the picture. The crew all turned towards the older altean. Clamoring over each other, they all settled into the couch in good positions as Coran began to narrate. He pointed towards the picture, "One of the guards ended up taking that one in the royal garden." The paladins leaned in, drinking in the picture. It was of a young altean girl. Her long white hair fell in waves around her waist and the wisps of hair in front were held back by a plethora of colorful pins and a large brimmed sun hat. Her dress fell wildly down, spinning in motion.

"The princess loved to go out in the mornings before her lessons when she was younger. Her governess normally was off, finishing preparing the reading materials for the day so it was seldom that she was ever allowed to go because there wasn't anyone with the time to take her out and watch her. The gardens were relatively safe but she was just too young at the time to be wandering off on her own." Coran zoomed in at the girl's face. The picture was clearly an action shot as Allura was squatting down in the garden, grabbing at an orange and white flower. There was dirt smattered across her nose and grass stained the edges of her shoes. "When a few young, energetic recruits from the early guard shift caught wind of the problem, a few of them ended up commissioning King Alfor to let her come on the morning route with them." Coran shook his head, "I don't know if you realize, but it was a very bold thing to ask to personally take charge of the crown princess. It's an unheard of request! No senior officer, especially a general would've dared to ask such a thing. If they dared, it would be tantamount to trying to gain the biased favor of the young princess. But I suppose when you're young, it's easier to get away with that sort of thing." Another picture passed and taking its place was another image of Allura. This time, she was laughing with a large helmet over her head. She was settled up on a guard's knee, held tightly by an altean guard who was clearly trying (and failing) to remain professional. The guard's teal hair was combed and pulled back into a tight bun and there was a large broadsword strapped to the back of her plated armour. She looked every bit like a knight but any attempt at stoicism was lost as the sparkle in the woman's eye clearly showed that she was having just as much fun as young Allura. That snapshot passed quickly and Coran swiped to the next.

"Woah! He looks just like the AI virus thingy that took over the computer system that one time!" Lance spoke, leaning in towards the picture.

"Yes, that is King Alfor. A bit younger but it is him." Coran spoke, pointing between the three figures. Next to him was a young woman, clearly engaged in conversation as her arm was wrapped tightly around his. They were both dressed in beautiful gold ordinates and the dress was more lavish than anything the paladins has even seen before. Between them was a small sleeping bundle that everyone could recognize.

Pidge adjusted her glasses and leaned in, "What is this? Some sort of christening ceremony?"

"Oh! This is the official introduction of the princess to the people." Coran explained, pointing towards the lavish decorations and outfits of the people on the outskirts of the picture. "After a few weeks, the Queen's child is officially declared a legitimate heir to the throne. However, her title of princess at this stage is more honorary."

"So Allura's not the princess?" Keith asked, frowning, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Oh no! You misunderstand me. She is part of the royal family and she is the heir but at her age, to be declared the crown princess with legitimate power over any form of government, Allura had to pass a series of tests throughout her childhood and early teen years." Coran nodded his head in thought, "To be born a princess is a natural given right. But you're not born a leader. The truth is, there were plenty of cousins and other members of the extended royal family who could fight for the throne if there was any legitimate claim to the notion that the ruling royal family was in danger of bringing economic strife due to a lack of leadership." Coran twisted his mustache thoughtfully between his fingers, "In fact, there is only one instance that I can think of where there was a challenge against the one of the ruling family. But that was an exception in itself."

Pidge sat up at the new information, she felt her own marks pulse slightly as Coran's words raced through her mind, "Everything I've read about the Altean government leaves a blank hole about the rank of leadership around the ruling family." She looked at Coran who was swiping through and showing off a few pictures of the lavish halls, "What series of tests did Allura have to do?"

"Well, I'm not even sure where to begin." Coran hummed and paused over a picture, "Allura was groomed up by the finest tutors and the most accomplished teachers the kingdom had to offer. From diplomacy to language to-"

"Come on, Coran! That's boring stuff!" Lance interrupted, grabbing at the screen to pull it close, "There has got to be some embarrassing ones in here." The blue paladin quickly swiped through the pictures, passing over pictures of beautiful scenery and other snapshots of life that had many many figures moving in and out of the screen. Hunk seemed to have the same idea and he was already barreled over his shoulder to help the efforts. Together, their fingers swiped over the screen and flew through the album.

Keith crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, "Come on guys, that's really immature."

"Well you don't have to look if you don't want to." Lance shot back, not slowing down even slightly.

Walking over, Coran leaned over their shoulders. He glanced conspiringly around before putting his own finger own on the screen, "Well I'm not sure what you'd consider to be embarrassing but I do happen to know that there are a few that do show a bit more of Allura's personality." Coran's hand swiped down and his came finger to a sudden stop on a picture.

There was a great pause and Lance and Hunk erupted into laughter. They were soon joined by Pidge as she leaned over to take a look. Finally, when his curiosity became too much, Keith leaned over to take a look at the screen.

The child in the picture looked no older than a toddler. Her hair was sticking up wildly and there were a large amount of gaps in her teeth as she was wailing. Her clothes were bunched and grumpy looking like she had been abruptly woken from a nap. King Alfor looked just as upset. His hands were grasped under her armpits and he was holding her away from him like she was something strange and foul. It was obvious that he had no idea what to do. All in all it was a very comical looking picture, especially considering it was of the always composed and reserved princess they had come to know.

Swiping through, Lance barked out a laugh at the next picture, "My little sister used to make that face all the time!" Even Keith had to hold back a snort. The picture was of a very angry little girl. Her face was bright red and puffy like she had been crying. She was hunched over in a little stool that was placed in the corner, scowling at the ground. Her jumper was scuffed with marks. The little princess looked to be sitting very uncomfortably in the chair as her hand was behind her back and seemed to be angled towards her backside. Her chin was covered in a line of bandaids and her dripping nose was scrunched up in a handkerchief as she pointedly refused to look at the camera.

"Actually, it reminds me a little of you, Pidge. You used to go stomping around the house like that whenever Matt would take your toys." They all startled at Shiro's voice and Pidge whipped around.

Hunk caught his chest with one of his burly hands, "How long have you been standing there, Shiro?"

Shiro stuck his hands out of his pockets and leaned his elbows against the top of the couch, "Long enough."

Hunk glanced around him, "Uh… you didn't pass anyone in the hallway, right?"

There was a knowing glance in Shiro's eye and he winked, "I didn't see Allura, if that's what you mean." The whole group seemed to breath a collective sigh of relief and they all (including Shiro) leaned in to take a look at the picture that the black paladin had commented on.

Coran leaned down, "Oh I remember this one. Navi ended up taking this." There was a fond smile in his voice, "Some of the royal family had come up from the northern region and were passing through. King Alfor had invited them to stay and visit for a few days." Coran laughed slightly and he passed the screen around so everyone could get a better look.

Lance grinned and he zoomed in the photo, "Ha! What'd she do? I bet she played a prank or something."

"Nah, she totally stole cookies from the kitchen," Hunk nodded his head in a sage like manner.

"You're the only one who would steal food from the kitchens, Hunk." Keith examined the picture, "Nah, the princess doesn't seem like she'd be big into pranks."

"Are you kidding?" Pidge leaned down to glance at Keith, "The princess is totally the pranking type! Have you been a part of our training sessions for like the past forever?"

"Remember the paint bot, Keith." Hunk nodded his head with Pidge's assessment, "I still think the stain on my left knee is from those things."

"Was it fighting?" The other Paladins quieted down as Shiro ventured a guess, "You said her cousins were in town."

"While both are excursions that ones that she has indulged in," Coran turned towards the boys, "This picture is one where she got in trouble for striking her cousin." At the other's looks, Coran continued his explanation, "The princess didn't get along with her cousins, or should I say that they didn't get along with her. It escalated to extreme levels during her teens years, but that's a story for another time- I think it stemmed from jealousy but whatever the reason, the castle was always a bit chaotic when they came to visit." This time, the older Altean couldn't help but smile as he carefully swiped through to the next picture, "All the guards knew about it and after a few years we started a betting pool of how long it would take before something was said that started a quarrel. I only ever indulged a few times but as a result, whenever any of the extended royal family came to visit, the guards snuck their personal cameras on them. After all, the only way to win the pool was with photo evidence."

"And King Alfor was okay with it?" Pidge asked, "Isn't there something kind of strange about taking secret pictures of the royal family."

"You would think," Coran agreed, shaking his head, "The sad part was the King Alfor encouraged it! It was Allura's mother that disapproved. The king thought it was hilarious, I remember his booming laughs echoing the halls over a few of the pictures." Coran smiled and fondly looked down at the picture on the screen, "There wasn't much that got the princess so riled up and so it was almost a little nice to see that there was still some childhood and life in her. This is my own personal option but I think that was the reason King Alfor invited them at all."

Coran held up the next picture and the Paladins were stunned by the ferocious action shot. Allura was a little older in this one. Her beautiful dress was held tight with decorative ribbons. It was a bit fancier than the other ones but it's cream color was marred by a bright purple stain down the front. But that was barely attention grabbing as everyone's eyes were glued to the little fist that was buried knuckle deep into another girl's face. The princess was clearly mid shout as her other hand was balled against her side. A glass of some purple unidentifiable liquid was falling to the ground. There was a collective wince at the photo and Lance was dying laughing at this point.

Hunk let out a low whistle, "Oooo, that looks like it must've hurt."

"That dress was one of Allura's favorites. Her mother had gotten it for her at the beginning of the spring season. She had worn it for all twice before Yvette had "accidently" spilled her drink against the front." Coran swiped through the next few that showed the two girls dissolving into a small wrestling match and tears as they were dragged apart. "I don't think I remember Allura's mother ever being so strict with the princess before or after then. The stain eventually came out but poor Allura was inconsolable over it."

"That's pretty good form too." Shiro examines the angle of the photo, "Excellent right hook. Allura got her good. I wouldn't be surprised if her nose was broken."

"And well deserved, if I might add!" Coran cheered at the picture, "If only you could've seen the queen that day. Think she was strict with the princess?" He shook his head with a laugh, "After seeing to Allura, the woman went storming across the castle with such a commanding aura! In all my years I never saw the woman so cross before in my life! I don't know what she said they didn't come back for another three cycles."

"This one's of you, Coran." Keith spoke, swiping through past the next two before turning the computer towards the man in question. Coran nodded his head and examined the photo. He looked a bit younger, his hair was a bit longer and the was a clear sign of youth in his shoulders and muscles in his arms.

"When this photo was taken, I had already been Alfor's personal advisor for many deca-phobes." Coran spoke. His attention turned towards the other figure in the photo and his eyes grew sad. Reaching out, he thumbed the smiling face of his son in his shining recruit uniform. He quickly turned the page and instead began to explain a few more of the pictures.

They passed a few more they were all so absorbed in them that they didn't notice when the door slid open.

"This one is a good one! It was taken during the Annual Summer Harvest, one of Altea's biggest celebration. This year was a bit difficult to host as the boiling rains swept from the earlier evening left the whole kingdom covered in mud." Coran smile down at the picture, "Normally we'd try to make sure that the streets were clean for the parade but there just wasn't enough time."

There was a collective snicker coming from all sides as their heads leaned in to examine the photograph.

"That's a whole lot of dirt to try and get out of your hair." Hunk remarked, pointing his finger down at the small princess in the photo that was covered head toe in. Even her shining hair was filled and matted with grime, but even then the dirt did nothing to hide the toothy smile of the princess who was holding a pile of silvery, glowing petals. King Alfor was right behind her, swooping down to hold her up under her arms so she could stand on her feet. But it was obvious that her previous attempt to walk had sent her falling into the mud.

Coran gave a wily smile and flipped to the next the next picture, "Oh it took more than just a few baths to get it all out."

Pidge and Hunk let out a collective aw and Keith grimaced and he averted his eyes and did his best to appear as nonchalant as possible as he did his best to ignore the next picture.

"Oh come on man," Lance preened, jabbing his elbow into Keith's side, "Are you really that uncomfortable?"

"No." Keith refuted, shifting his eyes away from the photo that Coran, Pidge and Hunk were making ridiculous noises over, "It's just, is this really necessary?" Keith asked, his face going slightly red.

Why the quiznak would he ever want to see some old picture of one of his teammates in the bathtub? It was weird, no matter how cute she looked with the bubbles foaming over her face to look like a little santa beard.

Lance gave a wolfish grin and leaned forward, "You were an only kid, right? bet your family has a ton of embarrassing baby pictures of you in the tub or potty training." Lance's grin only sharpened at the blatant alarm in Keith's shifty expression. 'Gotcha.' Leaning way into his personal space, Lance patted Keith, "What? Is little ol' Keith embawassed?" The blue paladin's voice inflected with a high pitch as he over exaggerated baby talk at his teammate.

"I didn't grow up in that kind of household." Keith crossed his arms over his chest with a subdued , frosty look, "Stop getting on my case. Just because your parents were embarrassing doesn't mean mine were."

* * *

Across space, deep within the territory of the Galra Empire was a small scouting fleet on their way to meet with Warlord Ranvieg.

"Aachoo!" Krolia wiped at her nose and glanced around at the empty bridge before looking back down at the small photograph that she had been examining. The scouting missions that she normally went on for Ranveig gave her a lot of time to kill and freedom to help along her fellow blade members. However, there were times like this she still couldn't help but dread the boredom. When she was alone, she couldn't help but bring out the picture. She wasn't supposed to keep any compromising personal items on her but she couldn't help but hold this one close to her heart.

She loved this picture of Yorak. He was so small, bundled up against her. He had a silly look on his face as he stared into his mother's eyes. She had very quickly realized it was his pooping face and she had made sure at the time to label the back of the picture as such so she would always remember. Even now she still remembered the fragile grip he had around her finger. It was incredibly weak and yet at the same time, he was so strong. Krolia had never known something so beautiful and yet so frightening. It was frightening to come to terms with the truth that she truly would do anything, even fight Emperor Zarkon himself to keep him safe. Everything she did was for Yorak. She thumbed the frayed edges and carefully smoothed it over before sliding it back into her breast pocket. It wouldn't do any good if she was found with it.

But still, in the comfortable silence of the bridge, Krolia pondered the matter. Did her boy still wear that face when he pooped?

* * *

Pidge and Hunk were not trying very hard to muffle their laughs as the red paladin tried and failed to mask his embarrassment. "Yeah, Keith," Pidge spoke, leaning forward with an amused expression, "Why are you so embarrassed? It's not like they're your pictures. And even if they were, everyone was a infant once. That's just part of living." Pidge's self assured, sound reasoning died as Shiro loomed in their view and pulled out his wallet.

"Is that so, _Katie?"_ Shiro asked, lifting a brow as he opened up the folds of his wallet, "Well I suppose if we're sharing, I happen to have a few pictures of my own."

As soon as Pidge caught sight of the set of photographs in Shiro's hand, her face darkened to a deep red and she immediately shot to her feet, "Shiro!" Hunk barely caught a glance at the worn photo of two cheesing, diaper wearing, curly haired little kids before Pidge scrambled to try and to grab them from their team leader. "Put those away!"

"Why?" Shiro's faux confusion was poorly done as the amusement in his eyes clearly gave away the act, "I thought you said that everyone was a baby once?"

"Stop being mean, Shiro!" A low whine that emulated from the back of Pidge's throat as she just about climbed up the back of Shiro in an attempt to swipe at the them. He held his hand up high out of reach and gave a teasing grin. It was funny that despite everything he had gone through, somehow his wallet had survived. He wasn't sure how but when he had been found all those years later passed out in Earth, the Garrison had brought his old ID to match credentials that it was really him. The Garrison was a lot of things but Shiro had a high amount of respect for their standard of privacy. Everything else in his wallet hadn't even been touched.

In between the boys' bickering, Hunk's booming laughter and the general chaos, no one had noticed when the door had slid open to give entrance to the final resident of the castle.

"Whatever are you all laughing about this morning?" Allura asked, her brow etched with confusion as she came upon the scene, "I've been expecting you at the training deck for nearly a half hour and…" Allura's voice stuttered to a stop and the scene completely froze as everyone else turned to the princess.

Hunk's face went white and he grabbed at the forgotten computer but Allura had already gotten a clear look at the image on the screen.

"P-Princess!" Coran sputtered out, looking over at the other Altean in sheepish shock.

The princess seemed to completely lose composure as another look at the computer screen caused marks on her cheeks gave a few quick pulses. There was a whole mix of emotion and her face became something unreadable as her line of sight was held by the young face of King Alfor.

Her flustered reaction was funny but it wasn't even close to Keith's. During the struggle the laptop had landed right on his lap, leaving him to look like the guilty party. The red paladin has completely and utterly horrified at the sight of Allura. His face drained to white and he couldn't even stutter out a word to her before he had shoved Lance off and taken off and exited the room in a quick bolt.

Allura glanced through the other occupants of the room, her eyes barely managing to even look at Shiro before her marks once again gave a very faint glow before going completely dormant. With her initial reaction reigned in and under control once more, Allura pierced Coran with a look. "What, in the name of King Groggery the infirm, is going on?" She didn't wait for his response before whipping around towards the remaining four, "And why aren't you all on the training deck?" Her laser focus shifted and went solely on Pidge. She leaned down towards the green paladin, "Last time we trained I gave an assignment for you to work on your aim." She lifted a brow, "I suppose if you're up here, you've must've seriously improved since yesterday afternoon." Stretching her arms above her head, Allura's body relaxed and she gave Pidge a smile, "I suppose a reassessment is in order then."

Pidge squeaked ever so slightly, stiffening at Allura's words. She had been training long enough to know that the princess' disarming smile was anything but friendly. Pidge abandoned her attempts to take Shiro's wallet and stumbled from the room with some mumbled garbled about needing to train. She didn't even try to grab her laptop, that was a lost cause.

The remaining paladins glanced between Allura's unreadable expression and each other. A signal went between Shiro, Lance and Hunk. They gave a guilty glance to Coran who was beginning to catch onto their scheme. He shook his head and his events were filled with betrayal. It did nothing to deter them from dispersing in opposing directions. Each of them gave fleeting excuses of training as none wanted to be caught alone with the frightening looking Allura. As the door closed behind Shiro, he looked back at the closed doors and couldn't help but laugh a little. He had never known someone to turn purple from embarrassment before.

 **Author's Note:** I've been insanely busy these past few weeks with wedding stuff. This chapter and the next will tide you guys over until I can finish some requests


	10. Tomato Soup

_What if the inscription on the headstone had matched? (Spoilers for season four)_

Tomato Soup

It should've been raining. That thought never failed to cross her mind each time she landed on the planet. If there was rain, like there had been h very first time she ended up on the planet, then maybe the tears might've been obscured under the visor of her helmet. But, standing there in a beautiful twin suns, there was no hiding the fresh trickles, staining her cheek. Fast and heavy, they slipped down her cheeks and dripped from her chin. Her footsteps echoed faintly against the landing ramp from her lion to the planet's surface. The castle hovered high in the atmosphere. Not that Pidge could see it. If she had tried to crane her head back and look, the blinding sun would force her gaze away. However, the green paladin knew it was there, and knew that they were probably watching her. But she was grateful nonetheless that they had given her a semblance of privacy as she had been allowed to touch done alone with her lion.

It had been seven months since her discovery and yet it never got any easier. She still dreamt about him, about Matt. His smile, his laugh. Small memories that she hadn't thought about in years. Each one seemed more precious than diamonds or a life jacket in the middle of an ocean. Sometimes it would hit her, in the middle of the day when she seemed to find herself alone or when her thoughts were wandering. Pidge remembered way he used to stretch his arms out and pose like a dork in an attempt to make her laugh. It always worked too. She'd make a funny face back and quickly steal his glasses off his face in a small game of keep away.

Matt would sit down and they'd play silly games and make little codes that they'd leave around for their dad to hack. None of the ones they ever made stumped him for even a moment, but that didn't mean that Matt and Katie didn't try.

Pulling her helmet down, Pidge walked down the steep steps of her lion and made her way across the cold, windy surface of the abandoned planet. This wasn't the first time she had made this trip, she'd done it more times than she could count and yet each time, every step felt like lead beneath her. Holding the package close to her chest, Pidge slowly walked through the rocky overcliff and made her way up the steep and daunting hill.

She remembered when he was getting sent off the Garrison. She had been so proud of him, so inspired to follow after him and dad. She used to spend hours studying in her room, working through algorithms. She'd even stolen his old textbooks from his room just to see the different notes that he had scrawled in the margins. Katie had been the saddest when she had watched Matt and dad leave on their space exploration mission to Kerberos. She was so proud, so pleased to see them shuttle off to the stars and yet, she remembered the undeniable ache in her heart. They had always been one step ahead, a little further from her reach where even if she strived her hardest she could barely reach. She studied her heart out and followed after Matt and her father. All the way to the ends of the galaxy she went to find them.

Lifting up her hand. Pidge shielded herself from the storm brewing in the atmosphere and gazed upon the momentous statue before her. Her eyes settled to the small memorial plaque and her eyes read the alien language neatly printed on the front. She didn't need a translation, she had long since memorized the words.

 _'In honor of the 127,098 brave warriors that stood against tyranny. The quest for freedom is won through sacrifice.' -_

With her head bowed, Pidge paused by the inscription. The first few months, even the sight of those words had made her incredibly angry. But now, her feelings had numbed into something that even she couldn't even describe. Was it apathy? No, there was nothing apathetic about the way she felt. It was a cold feeling of emptiness that resided in her. A blatant and cold realization that no matter how angry she got, the truth of the situation would never be changed.

Sometimes, Pidge felt like she was drowning, gasping for air as she clung to the shadows of her memory for the person she so desperately wanted to see the most.

Holding the package tightly to her chest, Pidge's footsteps quietly echoed across the glistening back obsidian that bolstered up the hulking monument. Her shadow stretched long and her footsteps were persisting until she finally reached the edge to gaze out on the other side. Looking out, her eyes scoured the familiar horizon with a weariness that had begun to take form in her mind and body.

Her first time here had been a blur of panic and denial. She had gone racing through the valley in a desperate attempt to refute everything that she was seeing. But when she came across the sleek gravestone with his name imprinted on top, that was the point where Pidge could no longer deny the truth and simultaneously her greatest fear.

Matt was gone.

From the records she had managed to pull up, he had died in the heat of battle, putting up a heroic fight alongside thousands of others in an attempt to defeat a large Galra invasion. While their heroics were of great victory, they had not been without casualties. By the time she had even reached Arus to begin her search, she had already been long too late.

 _The quest for freedom is won through sacrifice._

Those words had stuck with Pidge, revolving around in her head for the past few months on a loop. There was nothing she knew more than sacrifice. She had given up so much already in her attempts to help fight against the Galra. Already as a Paladin, she spent each and every day with her life on the line. She had left her mom alone on Earth with no idea where she had gone. She had to watch as people were slaughtered in the sake of Voltron, for her sake. She had seen more of universe than she ever dreamed there could be and yet every step was shadowed with death and her blood soaked footprints were being left across the stars. So after all the sacrifices she had already made, why did it have to be him?

Pidge slowly made her way through the graveyard. She passed headstone after headstone, each one as identical as the one before. In the heart of the graveyard, on the end of a path was the one gravestone that looked a little different from the others. The sky had begun to clear and already Pidge could see the beautiful blooms of the flowers gleaming in the sunlight. Standing tall in the middle of a small field of pink flowers was the headstone she was looking for.

When Pidge had found Matt, she hadn't left him. For days she had sat beside his grave, unable to do anything but stare at the same inscriptions over again. The mission that had taken her across the universe had finally ended. She had cried until she couldn't cry and even then the sorrow enveloped her and she was left with nothing but her wretched grief and heartache. Curling up next to the stone, there really was nothing left to do but listlessly remain. Wait for a sign or a sound, some shrivel of hope. Nothing came. Pidge was left with nothing but the desolate reality of her existence. Matt was gone and she really was alone. What kind of hero of the universe couldn't even save their own brother? So she waited, an ever faithful sentry to the long since fallen.

Her oxygen levels were decimated and almost gone by the time the other paladins had found her. She could only watch with blurry eyes as four figures converged on her position. The shadow of the sun had left her unable to see who they were but she had immediately known as two arms gently tucked her in and lifted her up off the ground. She had been barely been able to turn her head and move let alone protest as Shiro had swept her up off the ground and carried her up the castle steps and into the ship.

For days Pidge did nothing but sleep, falling into a dreamless state of grief and sorrow. By the time she had truly awoken, it was Lance who was watching over her bedside. They had all been taking turns to wait for the day that she awoke. She was sleeping in a room she had never been in before and she had long since been changed out of her uniform. Grasping for her glasses, she traced the rims of the wiry frames and with a horrible realization that the previous events had in fact not been a dream.

In the six months that had passed, she had been getting better. She could manage her daily routine and although the ache hurt just as much, it was little by little becoming more manageable. The pain never stopped and Pidge was sure it never would but she was slowly learning to live with the ache.

The flowers had been a collaboration of Allura and Coran's efforts. It was tradition that an honored fallen Altean warrior was to have a graveside of beautiful, pink Nostalite. The flowers were sacred and when bloomed, they gave a personal scent to each and every person who passed. The scent triggered a memory function of the brain that reminded the visitors of the essence of the person they remembered. It was the very fragrance of nostalgia itself. The only ones who could smell the flower planted on Matt's graveside were Shiro and Pidge as they were the only ones in the group who had memories of Matt. But for Pidge, the flowers didn't just give off a smell, the essence enveloped her. It changed and seemed to morph with her own emotions.

Today, Pidge could smell the makings of homemade tomato soup in the breeze. Tomato soup and grilled cheese had been Matt's favorite, so much so that when he was young, his clothes used to smell like it. Pidge had always hated it because when she had gotten his hand-me downs, they always were stained a yucky puke color from old spills. But the once detested scent now made Pidge feel like she was at home. Her fingers traced the pink petals and she quietly collected the ones that had fallen. The flowers would stand on his graveside forever, their existence was fueled by the memories of those who remembered him. As long as his memory was alive, the flowers would stay alive as well. The petals collected would be saved and could be used for planting at a later time.

Unwrapping the paracel that Pidge had, she set down two small mugs and a grilled cheese sandwich. Splitting the sandwich in half, she carefully placed one half down on the packaging and set it in front of Matt along with a steaming mug that she had just filled from a thermos. She stared at the small picture frame that had been placed down at the base of the headstone, and traced the photograph.

It had been Shiro, Lance and Hunk that had collaborated together and created a small memorial for him. Small strobe lights were carefully placed around, creating a candle light visual once the planet shifted into its darker hours. The picture frame held a recent picture of Matt that had been taken on the day before they had left of their fateful Kerberos mission. Next to the inscription was a small lit candle that brought a fragrance of incense to mix in with the smell of tomato soup. If you looked in close, you could read the small note that had been carefully carved into the headstone.

 _Matt Holt; dearly beloved son, brother and friend- cherished and missed by all who knew him_

"Hey Matt, it's been a while." Pidge pushed the parcel of food closer before grabbing her own. "I know it's not mom's tomato soup, or tomato at all but Hunk has been doing some experimenting in the kitchen. I think it tastes pretty similar. It's a bit spicier but the grilled cheese really balances the taste out." Crossing her legs, she grasped at the edge of her helmet. The airtight locks hissed slightly as the pressure realized and she lifted the helmet over her head before settling it beside her. That had been the final piece that had put the place together. Hunk, Lance, Shiro, Allura and Coran had all come together and created a small oxygen field around the place that would not only allow her to breath but allow the flowers to grow to exponential proportions.

Their colors could be seen all the way up from the atmosphere and it was nice to see that the field was growing and the seed was spreading and taking hold in the planet's surface. The princess had said that over the next decade, the planet will slowly be populated by the flower until the surface is completely covered. Pidge bit down into her sandwich and closed her eyes. The light felt warm against her face and it was almost unfairly nice out. The grilled cheese was slightly cold to the taste but Pidge didn't really mind. She sat and ate, enjoying her time as she filled Matt in on her latest adventures. The breeze felt cool against her back and the shades of pink brought an elegance. For a moment, Pidge could pretend they were somewhere different and it really was just him and her sitting, laughing and sharing each other's company like they had always done.

"-I'm not really supposed to be telling anyone this," Pidge looked down at her half eaten lunch, "Technically this is all super top secret Voltron stuff, but its like you used to say, 'What the Garrison doesn't know won't hurt them.'- in this case of course it's the Coalition but you know what I mean.." She leaned back against her elbows and took in the sky, "When this is all over Matt, when we finally defeat the Galra, I'm going to come back." Lifting herself up, Pidge carefully dusted the crumbs off her lap and wiped the last of the petals away from the graveside, "And after that, we're going to go home, together." Tears sprang to her eyes but this time, Pidge refused to let them fall, "You, me and dad. I'm gonna find him too, no matter what it takes." Taking a small breath, she basked in the warmth of the sun on her face. She gently pulled the wiry glasses from her face, "But it might take a while. I don't even know when I'll be able to come back- so until then, do you mind keeping these safe for me?" Pidge reached down and placed the small, worn code booklet down on the ground among the bed of flowers. Her hair swept over her eyes and her slowly growing locks fell in curls around her shoulders. Her fingers shook and it was hard to get her hands to cooperate. Pidge as slowly unclasped her hands from around the binding. She wouldn't be needing it anymore. "Mom's waiting, you know. And I don't want to keep her any longer than we have t-to." A lump had formed in Pidge's throat and she was starting to have a hard time breathing. Her voice cracked and a watery smile touched her lips, "I at least owe her that, owe you that. One last trip home, I promise." Sitting in a field of beautiful pink flowers, Katie sobbed.

By the time she had reached the castle, the twin suns had long since set on the horizon and the two small moons were beginning to rise. The petals rustled in the slight wind and Pidge watched the patch of pink as the planet faded in the distant as the castle moved farther and farther away before disappearing all together.

Holding the petals to her chest, Pidge sunk down against the window and breathed in the smell of tomato soup. Matt may have been gone, but he would never be forgotten.


End file.
